A Brief History As Hokage
by Nate Grey
Summary: Boruto thinks Sasuke would be a better Hokage than Naruto. So Sasuke has Boruto explore a genjutsu-based world where Sasuke is Hokage. But it may be tough for Boruto to enjoy it, since the first thing Sasuke does in this world is ensure that Boruto will never be born.
1. Savior

Notes: I must first give an enormous amount of credit to **Kryptonian Saiyan** , who inspired this story with his YouTube video entitled, "What If Sasuke Beat Naruto In Their Final Battle?" I highly recommend any of his Naruto clips, especially the ones that deal with "what if?" scenarios.

 **Warning** : There is character death and plenty of it. There will be no second warning.

Summary: Boruto thinks Sasuke would be a better Hokage than Naruto. So Sasuke has Boruto explore a genjutsu-based world where Sasuke is Hokage. But it may be tough for Boruto to enjoy it, since the first thing Sasuke does in this world is ensure that Boruto will never be born.

* * *

 **A Brief History As Hokage**

 **A Naruto Fanfic by**

 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 1: Savior**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke would never claim to be a psychic, or boast that he knew exactly how the world would unfold. At the same time, both his mind and his bloodline, as well as his clan's bloodstained history, had afforded him certain advantages that others would never be able to grasp.

Some things were just entirely too easy to predict, either as an Uchiha, or simply as Sasuke.

Naruto's firstborn son being an idiot was not really a shot in the dark.

In Boruto's defense, his being an idiot was not the end of the world. In fact, Naruto had been one, and he'd managed to save the world a time or two. With the proper amount and type of training, and a little inherited luck, Boruto would no doubt do the same one day.

But until then, he could hardly be blamed for opening his mouth and removing all doubt as to which parent he'd inherited the bulk of his brain from. It was no different from the way Chocho was instantly recognizable as an Akimichi, or Shikato a Nara. Children couldn't help who they were made from.

The problem was, the teachers who had helped Naruto get around being an idiot weren't really an option for Boruto. Iruka was too busy, and Jiraiya was long dead. Kakashi, while he had taught Boruto a thing or two, would be the first to admit that of the many hats he wore, sensei had always been a rather uncomfortable and ill-fitting one, and it really showed in his students. And even if Naruto had the time to spare, he was, at his core, still an idiot. Though not as much of one, and far more tolerable. But Sasuke had it on good authority that Naruto couldn't help what he'd inherited, either. It wasn't exactly the Curse of Hatred, but surely it hadn't been easy, lugging around a thick head and a chakra monster his whole life.

At least Boruto only had the one. But he had it in spades.

There was some hope, though. Sasuke's own daughter Sarada had somewhat reluctantly latched onto Boruto, so he should have been limited into how stupid he could behave around her before she reigned him in. And Mitsuki, while he would not necessarily stop Boruto from being an idiot, would at least ensure that it didn't get either of them killed.

But that was the team dynamic. When not restricted by their influence, Boruto had no problem showing anyone else that he had Uzumaki brains. And since Sasuke had agreed to train him, he got to hear some choice nuggets of wisdom from Boruto. Most did not bear repeating, but there was one that nearly made Sasuke re-think the whole arrangement.

It had quickly become apparent that Boruto understood very little about his father. Part of this was by design: making a better tomorrow for the children of today involved a great deal of hiding the terrors of yesterday. But Boruto didn't even seem overly familiar with things that Sasuke expected any child to have memorized about the current Hokage. In fact, Boruto almost would have had to purposely go out of his way to possess so much ignorance on a subject which he should have nearly been an expert on. Sasuke did not expect Boruto to know something like Naruto's age when he defeated Pain, but there were many children who could recite the individual ages of Team 7 when they had first attempted the chunin exams. Boruto was not among them.

He didn't care. Or he didn't care enough, anyway. And perhaps that was a consequence of Boruto living in a peaceful time, or not growing up an orphan, or never having to survive on little more than a occasional stipend and his own wits. If Boruto had outright hated Naruto, perhaps that level of disinterest would have been understandable.

But Boruto did love his father. He would not try so hard to gain Naruto's attention if he didn't. Which could only mean that Boruto's willfull ignorance was the result of spite. There were far worse reasons to be a shinobi, but Sasuke had little patience for that type of attitude. Not after he had wasted so much time hating Itachi. Hatred was for those who deserved it. And while it was debatable how much of Boruto's attitude that Naruto deserved, what could not be debated was that Boruto had formed an uninformed opinion of his father. He didn't know enough about Naruto to accurately judge, and he was already biased by hurt feelings.

Likewise, he also did not know enough about Sasuke. Nothing else could explain the boldness and confidence in Boruto's voice when he spoke those fateful words.

"You'd make a way better Hokage than my old man!"

Sasuke's initial reaction, muted though it was, was disgust. It wasn't even so much that Boruto was wrong. No, it was more that Naruto's own son saying that, while completely ignorant of what Sasuke had once thought required to become a true Hokage, was a sure sign that they had done too good a job of protecting the current generation.

It couldn't stay that way. And Sasuke felt that waiting until Boruto became a chunin would be too late. Rather, Boruto could not be depended on to lead while still stumbling blindly in the dark. If he could not handle the weight of what Sasuke would have done, given the chance, odds were he wouldn't last as a shinobi. Or if it meant they had to find someone else to teach him, so be it.

And that was it, in the end. Boruto needed to learn, and Sasuke had agreed to teach him. That included teaching Boruto a lesson that Naruto would never.

* * *

"I have a test for you," Sasuke said the following afternoon as he and Boruto arrived at a training field. "It won't be easy."

"I'm up for it!" Boruto said at once, eager to prove himself.

"It will target several of your weak points simultaneously," Sasuke warned. "It's a very complex genjutsu, and it will exploit you emotionally. Once it begins, I will give you no help. The test will be divided among multiple sessions. I will not end a session until you reach a designated checkpoint. There will be no stopping the test halfway through. If you agree to this, we will have as many sessions as it takes for you to complete the entire test."

Boruto paused, perhaps second-guessing himself, but quickly nodded. "I'm up for it!" he repeated, almost as enthusiastically as he had the first time. But there was doubt now, Sasuke had seen it.

That was good. It didn't encourage him to make the test any easier, but there was definitely room for growth and change in Boruto.

"When you reach the end of the test, you will have three tasks," Sasuke said. "You must figure out why I gave you this test, what you were supposed to learn, and what you should do with that knowledge."

With a nod, Boruto stared at Sasuke. "I'm ready!"

"No. You aren't," Sasuke warned, even as the Sharingan appeared in his right eye.

Boruto immediately collapsed into Sasuke's arms.

"Let's see how long it takes you to figure out, just what kind of world you're in," Sasuke murmured.

* * *

The world that greeted Boruto's eyes was an endless field of white, with one immediate exception: a golden beacon of light that seemed to call to him. Because there was nothing else of interest, Boruto began to approach the beacon.

He noted at once that something was different: his movement seemed off, sluggish somehow. Almost as if he were walking through water.

The beacon dimmed slightly as he got closer, allowing him a better look at the source of light.

It was Sasuke. Sort of.

This Sasuke was obviously younger. His hair and clothes were different, and he had both arms, but it was unmistakably him.

"So what do I do first?" Boruto asked automatically, before he recalled Sasuke's instructions. "Oh, right. No helping me, huh."

It didn't matter: the Sasuke in front of him didn't respond. Not because he chose not to, but because he appeared to be incapable of action at all.

Figuring this was part of the test, Boruto reached out and poked Sasuke's arm, and jerked back when something like a static shock passed between them. His finger had actually sunk into Sasuke's arm, as if Boruto were a ghost. But in that instant, he had seen it: Sasuke had moved. Only a tiny bit, but enough to convince Boruto of what he had to do next.

Taking a deep breath, Boruto squared his shoulders, and walked through Sasuke.

That was the plan, at least. But instead, the moment he was within Sasuke, it was like someone had slammed a hidden trapdoor behind him. He was stuck inside Sasuke. Which honestly wasn't a horrible thought: if this was anything like his role-playing games at home, he did not mind playing as Sasuke for a while.

But Sasuke was not under Boruto's control. Boruto was just along for the ride. Sasuke turned around and started to run. As he did so, various details began to surface in the world. A sprawling landscape emerged, but Boruto had little time to take it in, because Sasuke had picked up speed, and then a loud chirping split the the air as lightning filled his hand and sprang in every direction. Boruto couldn't take his eyes off of it. He had never seen the Chidori so close before.

What he also didn't see was that Sasuke had reached the edge of a cliff and jumped. But once Boruto realized there was no ground beneath them for several seconds, he trained his gaze forward.

And immediately wished he had done anything but that.

It wasn't just the ground rushing up to meet them. It was Sasuke's target.

And because Boruto was only along for the ride, all he could do was watch as Sasuke swung the Chidori forward, and plunged it deep into the heart of Boruto's own father.

Boruto opened his mouth. To scream, to cry, to curse, he wasn't sure. What came out was not his voice, but Sasuke's. What he spoke were not his words, but Sasuke's. What he delivered was not a plea for his father to live, but a command for his friend to die.

* * *

"It's over, Naruto. Just die." Sasuke gazed into Naruto's eyes, silently willing him to obey, although not with any of the power he could have used to compel.

So instead, Naruto smiled, exposing a grin rapidly being tainted by blood. Then he spoke, or tried to. It didn't matter, he said exactly what Sasuke had known he would.

Don't misunderstand Itachi's will.

Don't be swallowed up by darkness again.

Don't turn your back on the people who care for you.

Don't hurt Sakura-chan anymore.

There was more, but it didn't matter. None of it mattered, really.

Not until the voice changed.

"I warned you, boy," it growled through Naruto's lips. "I told you that if you killed Naruto, you would regret it."

"I'll be rid of him, you, and your kind soon enough," Sasuke promised.

Kurama laughed at him. "No Uchiha has ever been able to keep that promise. Do you actually think that no one ever found a way to destroy us? They could never put aside their desire to exploit our power long enough. You will fall into the same trap that Madara did: you will crave more power to accomplish your goals. We will meet again, boy, and I will have my revenge. Forget the Curse of Hatred. It's the Curse of Kurama that will end you."

* * *

He could feel Sasuke moving with him aboard, but Boruto saw nothing, heard nothing.

Sasuke had killed his father.

Like Sasuke, Naruto had been younger, but Boruto had seen enough pictures of his father to recognize him as a teenager. And Sasuke had killed him.

Perhaps the worst part was that there had been a strange fusion of Sasuke's emotions with Boruto's. So for a few horrible moments, he had wanted his father dead. Not for any deeply personal reason, but for a more general one: because it was both right and necessary, for the world to be corrected. The only sensation there had been on a personal level was a rather firm annoyance.

And that, perhaps, was the strangest part: as far as Boruto could tell, Sasuke didn't hate Naruto, or even particularly want him dead for anything that he'd done personally. Yet he felt some overwhelming need for Naruto to die, simply because he was connected to the overall wrongness that had to be erased.

Not that it mattered much to Boruto. He was in no mood to understand Sasuke's reasoning. No excuse would have been anything more than that: an excuse, and completely unacceptable. To snatch away his and Hima-

"No," Boruto whispered, his eyes widening. Suddenly, the weight of what Sasuke had done truly hit him.

If Naruto died as a teenager, he would never get married and have children.

Sasuke had murdered the entire Uzumaki clan as Boruto knew it with one blow. Even if Boruto's mother married someone else, and the resulting children were him and Himawari, it wouldn't matter. They would be different. Boruto would never have Naruto's hair or the whisker-like marks on his cheeks.

Suddenly, those mattered to him more than they ever had before.

But even as the thought left his head, Boruto pictured Himawari's smiling face, and felt ashamed of himself. No, even if she were different, if there was the slightest chance that Himawari could still be born, that had to be better than her not existing at all. For his mother's sake, if nothing else.

"We'll stop here for now."

Boruto blinked and looked up. He was back in the training field.

Sasuke... the one he knew, anyway... was staring down at him.

It took considerable effort for Boruto to ignore his first instinct, which was to attack. And even then, that choice was more based on knowing he stood no chance of defeating or killing Sasuke just then.

"I said I wouldn't give you any help," Sasuke said, "but I can tell that you're preoccupied with what you saw, and not why you saw it."

"And you're saying I shouldn't be?!" Boruto spat.

"I'm saying that both are important in order to pass this test."

* * *

Boruto was not shocked when he got home: his mother and sister were there, his father was not. If not for the late hour, Boruto would have gone straight to the Hokage Tower, just to make sure his father was still alive. Just to make sure that the genjutsu had truly ended. Instead, he found himself staring at Himawari, who only minded the attention when it prevented him from passing her the bread she asked for at dinner.

Certainly, Boruto had been an only child at some point. He found it hard to recall that time, now. Or more likely, he had no desire to recall that time. He would never have selected a sister for himself, if given the choice. But given that he hadn't had a choice, Himawari was more than decent, now that she was a bit older.

Without bothering to explain why, Boruto abruptly hugged Himawari as she was helping clear the dishes from the table. Himawari stared at him for a moment, but quickly returned the hug, and didn't let go until he did. He wanted to say something, to explain himself or to not seem too weird, but Boruto's voice failed him.

So Himawari drew his head down and placed a light kiss on his cheek. "Feel better, onii-chan," she murmured.

Boruto could only stare after her as she walked away. Had he been so obvious, that she could tell how he was feeling? Or had she always been so perceptive, and he hadn't noticed until now? He was still staring when his mother's hand touched his shoulder, startling him badly.

"Do you want to talk about whatever is bothering you yet?" Hinata asked, a knowing look in her eyes.

"Later," Boruto said. "After Himawari's asleep."

Hinata frowned slightly, but nodded.

* * *

"How well do you know Sasuke?" Boruto asked.

Hinata did not answer immediately, and the expression on her face did not reassure Boruto. She was clearly trying to decide how much, or how little, to tell him.

"He, your father, and I were in the same class-"

"That's not what I meant," Boruto interrupted with a scowl.

"I know what you meant," Hinata said firmly, startling him. "I was getting there. Sasuke and your father were rivals from the start, and Sakura was in love with Sasuke even then. They know him better than anyone else in the village does. Sasuke never let anyone else here get close to him."

"So you don't know him well at all?" Boruto asked, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

"No. I can only tell you what they've told me, and what little I've seen for myself. If you want to know something specific about him, I'm not the best person to ask."

"Do you... think he'd ever try to kill tou-chan?" Boruto murmured.

"If I thought that, you wouldn't be training under him," Hinata pointed out.

"No, I mean... this isn't coming out right," Boruto groaned.

"Did Sasuke say something to you?"

"He didn't... exactly say it."

Hinata sighed. "Are you trying to ask me if I could ever imagine Sasuke trying to kill your father? Or if there ever was such a situation?"

Boruto stilled. "Was there?" he asked softly.

"There were... some."

"More than once?!"

Hinata raised a hand to silence him. "Boruto, you have to understand something about your father. He has always had this power, to turn enemies into allies. You don't see it, because you were born in a time of peace. But some of the people who he now considers close friends were previously enemies who tried to kill him. His capacity for forgiveness is beyond compare, and it has won us many important allies."

"What does that have to do with Sasuke?"

"Your father came to see Sasuke as a brother, but Sasuke either didn't feel the same way at first, or at least refused to admit that he did. When Sasuke left the village, he intended to cut all bonds he had with it. Naruto refused to let him, and they fought. Depending on who you ask, that was likely the first time that Sasuke tried to kill your father. But in the end, Sasuke was the one left standing, didn't kill Naruto, and ran away to seek power. Naruto believed that Sasuke choosing not to kill him was a sign that his friend could still be saved."

"Did you believe that?" Boruto asked.

"Naruto would have chased him regardless of what anyone thought. What I believed didn't matter. If Naruto had asked me to help him, I would have, no matter how I felt. But given what I know now: yes, I do think Sasuke showed mercy that day because at the time, he was not too far gone. So if ever there were a best time to pursue him, it would have been then."

"And if he had killed tou-chan that day?"

Hinata smiled grimly. "Your father had influence with the right people even then, Boruto. Part of the reason that Sasuke survived this long is because Tsunade held back the hunter-nin that would normally have been sent to claim his head. She did that for your father. So if Sasuke had killed Naruto, Tsunade would have been out for his blood, and she wouldn't have been the only one who felt that way."

"But you trust Sasuke now?"

"I told you, your father can change people. I trust that he's changed Sasuke back into someone we can trust. But I can admit that without your father, I doubt I would have ever been able to trust Sasuke again." Hinata paused, remembering something. "You really wanted to know about the last time Sasuke tried to kill Naruto, didn't you?"

Boruto scowled. "Were there so many times that it's easy to lose track?"

"No. It's just that the last time was most significant. Sasuke said out loud that he would kill Naruto. He genuinely thought it was best for the whole world."

"How could that possibly be best for the world?"

"Again, you're asking the wrong person. Given all that your father means to me, I could never think that way about him."

Boruto frowned. "If you're going to get mushy on me, I think we're done here."

Hinata laughed softly. "You didn't get the answer you were looking for, did you?"

"Not really, but Sasuke already said he won't give me any hints."

"You should try asking someone else. I don't know how willing Sakura would be to discuss that part of Sasuke's past, but you should have better luck with Kakashi. He won't enjoy talking about it, either, but as Sasuke's former sensei, he's likely to give you a more unbiased answer."

* * *

Early the next morning, Boruto arrived at the training field to find Sasuke waiting for him.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked.

Boruto braced himself and nodded.

"We'll see," Sasuke said as his Sharingan appeared.

* * *

Boruto was more ready, this time. Now that he knew seeing people he knew die was a possibility, he expected it.

That turned out to be a good thing.

It had been too late the previous night to track down Sakura or Kakashi. Boruto planned to do it today. He would go with his mother's advice and start with Kakashi.

This time, so did Sasuke.

Kakashi fell quickly, both too stunned and exhausted to resist the attack of his former student. Rather than a Chidori, Sasuke merely stabbed him in the heart with a sword.

And then Sasuke turned to Sakura, who stared at him with tears in her eyes.

Even after what he had seen thus far, Boruto felt certain that Sasuke would not kill Sakura. She couldn't be his wife and Sarada's mother if she were dead. And indeed, through the fusion of his feelings with Sasuke's, Sasuke himself confirmed that if there was only one person left in all of Konoha who truly loved him, it was Sakura.

But that was exactly why she had to die.

The sword, still stained with Kakashi's blood, plunged just as easily into Sakura's heart. And with it came a certainty for Boruto.

This test... he still had no idea what the goal of it was. But one thing was rapidly becoming very clear to him. The Sasuke he was seeing here, if he truly existed at any point, had certainly been changed by Naruto into an ally. Because if he hadn't, Boruto and most of the people he knew now either would have been long dead, or never would have been born at all.

* * *

 **Continued in Chapter 2: Puppets**

Boruto learns why Team 7 had to die... but they aren't the only ones. A talk with Kakashi provides some major clues.

* * *

 **Endnotes:**

One of the issues I have with Boruto as a character is that he doesn't know stuff. Now, he's young still, so there are things that he simply shouldn't know yet. At the same time, there are things that other people his age know that is news to him. Plus, he should have some interest in the pasts of the people around him. Particularly Sasuke, who he idolizes and wants to emulate. Generally, the more you want to be like someone, the more you have to actually know about them to do that accurately. So how can Boruto truly idolize someone he barely knows anything about?

This will not be a story where Genjutsu!Sasuke simply kills everyone. Although there will be more killing, the reasons for which will soon be clear if they aren't already.


	2. Puppets

**A Brief History As Hokage**

 **A Naruto Fanfic by**

 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 2: Puppets**

* * *

Perhaps because Boruto had seen Sasuke kill people he shouldn't have wanted dead, he was even more shocked that there were people Sasuke wanted to spare.

Though the more shocking part was that Boruto didn't know any of them.

They were all pretty strange. First of all, they came out of cocoons. They recovered quickly enough after that, and that was when things got really weird.

The redheaded woman wearing glasses immediately began cursing out Sasuke, but in such a sappy way that Boruto couldn't be sure if she were furious, or in love with him, or both at the same time.

The man with pale skin, dark hair, and the extra long tongue made Boruto feel dirty just by looking at him.

The white-haired man began complaining about being thirsty, but was mostly ignored by everyone.

The man with orange hair didn't say anything, but tended to hover just behind Sasuke at nearly all times, like a bodyguard.

Boruto noticed that there were lots of other cocoons, but Sasuke was only interested in the ones that contained his... friends? It seemed an odd concept, now: Sasuke had killed all of the friends that Boruto knew of him having. Where had these other guys been hiding?

It was strange, but not bad, at least. Sasuke did not seem like he was going to kill them, at any rate.

And then Sasuke said something that made Boruto think that this wasn't so good, after all.

* * *

"Orochimaru. I need coffins."

* * *

Sasuke had not specified empty coffins, but that was what Orochimaru summoned for him, thankfully. Boruto had not seen a great deal of death, outside of genjutsu, but he felt certain that even in his limited experience, these coffins were not standard. They were very large, masterfully designed, and possessed an aura of great importance.

These coffins were not for eternal rest, but for displaying. And as the first coffin became occupied by the body that Suigetsu lowered into it, Boruto got a sick feeling as to who it would be displayed to, and why.

* * *

Boruto gasped sharply as he found himself back in the training field.

Sasuke was watching him closely. "You've reached a checkpoint. We'll stop for now."

"Now?" Boruto echoed. "But I barely saw anything! Can't we keep going?"

"You do not feel as emotionally drained as you did the first time?" Sasuke asked.

Boruto frowned at him accusingly. "There's no comparison at all."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment. "Very well. We'll continue."

* * *

Boruto returned to the field of white. "So I'm getting another choice this time," he muttered. It was true that he wasn't really looking forward to being in Sasuke again, so he was more than willing to explore other options.

But there was only one other.

Sasuke was still a choice, highlighted in a gold beacon. But the other beacon, located some distance away from him, was immediately more inviting, and as Boruto approached it, he saw why.

"Kaa-chan!" he breathed, both relieved and ecstatic.

It was surely Hinata. He had never seen her wear a ninja vest outside of photos, but there could be no doubt. Although, the fact that he had seen her, as well as his father, the way they appeared here, in pictures, told him something that he'd been worried about: this wasn't a fantasy. It was at least based on real events. Sasuke hadn't made it up. The only question was how much of it had actually happened. The deaths, surely not, but Hinata herself had said Sasuke was once an enemy. How far had he gone during that phase? It was a question Boruto needed the answer to.

Hinata was surrounded by other familiar faces, but none of them were lit up by beacons. Boruto spotted Shikato's father, Inojin's parents, Chocho's father, Metal's father, and someone who had to at least be related to Shino-sensei, given how much of his face was hidden.

They were alive. For now. And Boruto had to hope that his mother being a beacon would mean that she, at least, would survive whatever happened next. Clinging to that, he stepped into her, and the world began to move forward again.

* * *

Hinata was confused, but more than that, she was relieved. So many were still alive, after everything. She could still see Neji, jumping in the way of those projectiles, draped over Naruto's shoulder with blood leaking from his mouth, lying limply in Naruto's arms. Without realizing it, she reached out and clutched the sleeve of Kiba's shirt, seeking comfort.

Kiba's only response was to move slightly closer to her, and Shino did the same.

Only one thing was clear, from the massive fallen trees and shed cocoons, as the minutes continued to pass: they had been freed from the Infinite Tsukuyomi. It was, oddly, a near-instant process. Everyone woke up almost immediately, the cocoon remains falling to shreds under the slightest pressure. Tenten had been among the first to come looking for Hinata. Without speaking, they embraced for several minutes, bonded by their shared loss of Neji. Then they split up, helping to gather other survivors.

As the number of survivors continued to grow, one thing began to worry Hinata: there was no sign of Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, or Sasuke. From Team 7, only Sai had appeared, and he had been separated from them for some time before falling victim to the Infinite Tsukuyomi. And he was concerned, because he had already checked with Hinata three times to ask if she'd spotted them. He finally just stayed in her group, figuring Hinata would be the first to spot Naruto.

Not surprisingly, everyone ultimately gathered around their own Kage or leader, despite the fact that they essentially had just as much information about what was happening as anyone else did. Hinata was just happy to see Tsunade alive, and the feeling must have been mutual, because Tsunade did not even take offense when Hinata scanned her for serious injuries without prompting or permission.

It was, Hinata realized later, something Sakura would and should have done, were she there. Maybe Tsunade realized it as well, which could be why she allowed it.

It was impossible to say when it happened, because it was so abrupt.

Suddenly, Sasuke was among them. And he had not come alone.

Tsunade, at least, seemed to recognize the group with Sasuke, and she did not look pleased. "Uchiha," she said sharply.

Sasuke did not look intimidated at all. "I bring you good news, Hokage-sama. Madara has been defeated. The shinobi world will soon be safe. We-"

"What have you done with Naruto?" Tsunade demanded.

This caused a notable ripple among the crowd. There was, in fact, nothing about Sasuke's appearance to suggest such a thing. And yet, the very fact that Sasuke was there at all, without Naruto, or any of the former Team 7, suggested so much more.

Sasuke grinned, or at least he attempted a terrible perody of one. "He is here. They are all here."

Three pillars shot up from the ground around Sasuke. But they weren't pillars. They were exquisite coffins, but their fronts were made of a see-through material, so that the occupants could be easily seen.

Hinata was the first to scream.

Naruto was in the center coffin. Sakura and Kakashi were in the others. Someone had cleaned and re-dressed them: all three now wore black bodysuits. Their eyes were closed, and if not for the coffins, they could have been asleep. There were no obvious signs of any fatal wounds.

The outraged voices begin to rise at once, and Sasuke merely stood there, as if basking in them. He was enjoying this.

It was a truly odd sequence of events that changed everything.

Hinata caught sight of Ino, tears flooding from her eyes, as she stared, not at Sasuke, but at Sakura's corpse. She collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hands.

A hand touched her shoulder gently, in an attempt to comfort, but Ino ignored it.

"Unforgivable," Lee whispered, his free hand curling into the all too familiar position of a clenched, raised fist. "To spill a maiden's tears so callously, on this day of all days, and to do so by extinguishing the blazing youth of three shinobi so splendid! Unforgivable!"

An instant later, Lee was in Sasuke's face, rocketing a fist forward. "YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH! SASUKE-KUN!"

Lee had been too focused on Sasuke. He and many others had not seen the coffins split open.

What everyone saw was Lee taking three attacks.

A Rasengan destroyed his shoulder, flinging away the extended arm.

A Chidori speared through his back and burst from his belly, but purposely missed his heart. Because he needed to see that last attack coming.

Lee locked eyes with the final attacker, his heart breaking one last time as she closed in. "Saku-" was all he had time to whisper, and then an overwhelmingly powerful fist obliterated his head.

The dead members of Team 7 assembled around Sasuke as Lee's smoking corpse hit the ground in front of them. Their eyes all reflected the power of their new master: a Rinnegan on the left, and a Sharingan on the right.

Sakura reared back and punched the ground, opening up a fissure that raced at the crowd, forcing them to dodge to either side.

Kakashi aimed another Chidori into the air, overflowing it with chakra it until it burst and raced in all directions, wounding but killing none of the people who had taken to the air to avoid Sakura's attack.

Naruto was the worst: he spread his arms slowly, tiny Rasengans forming over every inch of his body before they zoomed forward into the crowd, expanding on contact, blowing off limbs, but avoiding lethal blows, provided there were enough medic-nin to give emergency medical attention soon enough.

It could not be misunderstood. Sasuke was not showing mercy by allowing them to live. Rather, he wanted them to live, so he could prolong their suffering. Death would only be a means of escaping him.

"This shinobi world belongs to me now," Sasuke announced. "I am the final Hokage. And my first order: the Five Kage are to surrender themselves for immediate execution within the hour. If I have to go looking for them, it won't end well for anyone." He paused, eyeing Tenten, who was being restrained by several people. "Tsunade, while your people are free to attack me, if you value their lives at all, I would keep them under control."

Tsunade looked as if she would rather spit on him than agree with anything he said, but she reluctantly turned to face her shinobi. "All of you, stand down! None of us has the power to defeat him right now, and I won't allow you to throw your lives away! That's just what he wants, and it only gives him more bodies to taunt us with!"

"And I'm willing to trade up," Sasuke added cheekily. "Anyone is better than a dead dead last."

Tsunade spun around to face him, but immediately had to discard whatever else she was going to do, because Hinata had almost charged past her. "No, Hinata!" Tsunade snapped, holding her tightly.

"You won't get away with this!" Hinata screamed.

"I already have," Sasuke reminded her, laughing as Naruto stepped forward and blew a kiss at her. "But by all means, try to stop me, Hinata. I could use a Byakugan for my collection."

"There's no point, Hinata," Tsunade hissed in her ear. "It's too late for Naruto. He wouldn't want you to die here. And in any case, I forbid you. I have one last order, only for you." She pressed her lips to Hinata's ear and whispered something. Hinata's eyes widened, and she stopped struggling. But Tsunade did not release her, just in case.

Seeing that Hinata was not going to take the bait, Sasuke turned his back. "Remember: the Kage have one hour." After a pause, he glanced at Sakura, who knelt down and collected Lee's remains. "A splendid death for a splendid shinobi, Lee. If you hadn't forced my hand, I would have added you to my collection, too."

As Sasuke's group began to withdraw, Tsunade growled when she spotted her former teammate among them.

"I told you before, Tsunade," Orochimaru said. "I want to see which way his wind blows. It is unfortunate. Apparently, reviving you and the other Kage was a wasted effort on my part."

Tsunade glared at him. "I liked you better when you were honest about betraying me."

"You can see it that way, if you wish. It's a shame you won't live to see his plans unfold, but your death will serve a greater purpose. That, I can promise you."

* * *

Boruto felt like he could hardly breathe as he watched Orochimaru leave. But it had nothing to do with how powerful the man was, or what he'd said.

Through the fusion of his feelings with his mother's... it felt like he was dying. As if his heart had been set on fire and could not be extinguished, leaving him in constant, searing agony. And beyond that, there was a cold, endless rage that he could not ever imagine his gentle mother possessing.

And Tsunade had only made that rage stronger.

"You have to live, Hinata," the Hokage had told her. "Because I'm trusting you, to find a way to avenge Naruto and end all of this. I order you to survive at all costs."

Those words assured Boruto of two things.

Tsunade was going to die.

And even if it killed her, his mother was going to defeat Sasuke, somehow.

* * *

Boruto emerged from the session more confused than anything else. Since he knew Sasuke wouldn't help, he left without a word.

He ended up finding Kakashi purely by accident: Boruto passed Metal and his father in a nearby training field, in the middle of an insane amount of sit-ups. Recalling the image of Lee dying, and how that would mean no Metal in that world, Boruto felt he couldn't just walk by without saying something to them.

He had to refuse six times to get Lee to stop asking him to join their training. Instead, Boruto suggested a lunch break. Lee declined, saying he already had lunch plans that he couldn't cancel, but encouraged Metal to go with Boruto. Metal was surprisingly reluctant about the idea, and instead asked Boruto to come with them. Knowing how unusual it was for Metal to turn down an invitation from a friend, Boruto figured that these lunch plans had to be extremely important.

* * *

Lunch was horrible. Apparently, Lee couldn't skip it because the surviving members of his former team came together every so often for a meal at Tenten's house. Of course, Lee had no desire to skip it in the first place. And that was one of many reasons Boruto questioned his sanity.

First, Boruto was seated on the left side of the table. This meant Metal was seated to his left, which was fine. It almost meant that, to Boruto's right, was a framed photo of his deceased first cousin once removed, Neji, which was weird. Technically, as Neji had been a member of the team, there was nothing wrong with them celebrating his life or wanting to remember him. But Boruto was not used to eating with pictures of dead people directly next to him. A few feet beyond that, sure, but any closer was borderline creepy. Worse, no one else seemed bothered by it. But then, they weren't sitting as close to it was he was.

Second, Lee got drunk. And if he had just been a loud drunk, or an obnoxious drunk, or even a somewhat violent drunk, perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad. But Lee was all three at once. Stopping him should have been a group effort. Except Metal only cheered him on, Boruto was smart enough to stay out of the way, Kakashi (he was not a former member of the team, so Boruto had no idea why he was even there) claimed his hip was acting up again, and Guy was both too busy crying manly tears and in no shape to restrain anyone. Which meant it was solely up to Tenten to reign Lee in. Which she did. With several precisely-aimed bricks and, in the end, a red and white fan that blasted Lee through a wall. A wall which, Boruto later realized when he saw Kakashi easily fill it in with a quick earth jutsu, had clearly been repaired many times in similar fashion.

Then, Lee and Guy started sobbing and hugging each other. Boruto had to turn away quickly, he could feel his eyes trying to dry themselves out in attempt to never see anything ever again.

By the time lunch was over, Boruto had nearly forgotten about wanting to talk to Kakashi. Fortunately, it was Kakashi who brought it up, having gotten a message from Hinata earlier. Kakashi thought it best that they not be overheard, so Boruto ended up following him to his house.

Boruto's immediate impression was that it was odd that a former Hokage would live in such a small house. He thought it far less strange when Kakashi opened the door, revealing no less that twenty dogs of varying sizes crowded in the doorway. They backed off when Kakashi pushed his way through, but immediately converged on Boruto, sniffing loudly for a few seconds before losing interest. Half instantly vanished in loud cracks of smoke, while others found places to sit or sleep around the house. Kakashi claimed he had no need for a bigger place, as it was just him and his dogs.

They moved to Kakashi's study, which was amazingly dog-free and fairly neat. Boruto's attention was drawn to a photo on the wall. In it, Kakashi was seated between Tsunade and Naruto, and all three were laughing... well, Boruto assumed Kakashi was laughing behind the mask. It was strange. They didn't look like three Hokage. They just looked like three regular people, having a good laugh.

Kakashi noticed Boruto staring. "Konohamaru took that picture," he said. "I'm sure he still has copies, if you-?"

"No, that's okay." Boruto shook his head and turned to Kakashi. "I had some questions. About something Sasuke showed me."

Kakashi sighed heavily and sat down at his desk, gesturing for Boruto to take a seat in a nearby chair. "I think I have some idea of what he showed you, but I'll need confirmation first." He opened a desk drawer, rummaged around for a moment, and came up with a few photos, which he slid one by one across the desk. "Holler if anything looks familiar."

Boruto's eyes widened slowly as he stared down at the first photo: a woman in glasses with bright red hair and matching eyes, staring grumpily at the camera. "I saw her. She was there, with Sasuke and the others, when..." Boruto trailed off, not wanting to say what else had happened, if he could get away without mentioning it.

"That's Karin," Kakashi explained. "Technically, she's related to you. Distantly."

"What's that mean?"

"Not much, if you ask her. Was she doing anything notable when you saw her?"

"Not that I can recall. If not for her hair, I think I would have forgotten her entirely."

Kakashi passed another photo across the desk.

This one was easier for Boruto to identify. "Orochimaru. He was talking to Tsu-baa. She was mad at him. Or disappointed. Both?"

"Sounds about right." Kakashi slid one last photo across the desk.

It took Boruto a moment to realize that it wasn't a photo at all, but rather a copy of a highly detailed painting of a woman that he had never seen before. What he had seen before was her eyes: the single, malevolent red eye with black tomoe glaring out of her forehead, and the white eyes gazing serenely out of her face. He must have been silent for too long, because Boruto eventually became aware of Kakashi's hand lightly gripping his arm.

"I'm okay," Boruto muttered, shaking him off.

"That's an opinion," Kakashi replied, only a hint of concern in his tone. "Once we discuss why you had that reaction, I might agree that it's a fact."

After taking another look at the painting, Boruto realized that his first impression was slightly wrong, and why he had made the mistake. The artist had done a close-up perspective of the woman's face, and now that Boruto took the time to truly take in the details, his mistake was obvious, but understandable.

"This eye," he murmured, pointing to the eye on the woman's forehead. "It's not the Sharingan, or the Rinnegan, is it?"

Kakashi stared at him. "No," he said after a moment, "but there is a connection there. Do you know who she is?"

Boruto shook his head. "She's got the Byakugan. Is she a Hyuga?" He did not voice the bigger reason behind that assumption: something in the woman's face reminded him very much of some Hyuga he had met. Perhaps an aura of superiority? But more than that, something about her reminded Boruto, much as he didn't want to admit it, of his own mother.

"Again: no, but there is a connection." Kakashi was definitely smiling behind his mask this time.

Boruto scowled at him. "Are you going to give me some real answers or not?"

"Boruto, surely by now you realize there are some things in the village's history that are simply above your pay grade, and you are not allowed to know them, yet. Similarly, don't let the laid-back attitude fool you: you are addressing the Rokudaime Hokage. If I don't want you to know something, you won't know it. But I didn't bring you all the way here just to tease you. I could have done that at Tenten's place."

"So what are you going to tell me? Or what can you tell me?"

"If you don't know who this woman is yet? Not much," Kakashi admitted. "But for now, since you already know something about each of them, I think we'll be safe discussing the Sharingan and the Rinnegan. And mind you, some of that would usually be off limits, but given your personal experience, I'm making an exception."

Boruto decided to start with the question that had been bothering him the most. "Is it possible for those eyes to raise the dead?"

Kakashi went very still. Finally, he said, "Clarify."

"Huh?" Boruto asked. "What do you mean?"

"That's what I'm saying to you. What exactly do you mean?"

Boruto opened his mouth to snap off an angry reply, then actually thought about what Kakashi had said. "Um... can the Sharingan raise the dead?"

"No," was Kakashi's immediate response.

"Can the Rinnegan raise the dead?"

Kakashi took much longer to respond. "Yes. But I don't think you understand what you're asking me. Do you mean, can the Rinnegan animate a dead body? Or do you mean, can the Rinnegan actually restore a dead person so that they truly live once more? And the answer is yes to both, by the way."

Boruto frowned. What he had seen with Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura in the genjutsu... they were definitely still dead. Moving around and fighting, but still dead. That was what had made Hinata so furious at Sasuke: brainwashing Team 7 would have been bad enough, but killing them, desecrating their corpses, and using them as puppets against their friends was so much worse.

"So... Sasuke could reanimate dead bodies right now, if he wanted to?" Boruto asked slowly.

"Assuming he had all the proper materials? Yes." Kakashi seemed reluctant to admit that. "And they wouldn't be hard for him to come by. But that's not something anyone needs to worry about. Sasuke is a complicated person, but the days when he would even consider doing something of that nature are behind him."

"Because of tou-chan," Boruto murmured.

Kakashi tilted his head slightly. "Essentially, yes."

"And if it wasn't for tou-chan... Sasuke would be a really bad guy."

"He would be no friend to our way of life, at least," Kakashi agreed.

"So why couldn't Sasuke just tell me that?" Boruto demanded.

Kakashi faked a cough. "You have never struck me as someone who would easily accept information that you didn't want to hear. And it is much harder to deny something that you've seen with your own eyes. Though, ironically, we are discussing a genjutsu session, so what you saw, while somewhat based on reality, is still an illusion."

"That doesn't make what I saw any less wrong," Boruto insisted.

Kakashi shrugged. "Then this would be the part where I tell you that I haven't been Sasuke's sensei in years, and I have no control over what he does or doesn't teach you. If you have an issue with something he showed you, I suggest you take it up with him. The only thing I can really do is help you understand what you saw."

Boruto grunted. "You mean if I'm allowed to understand it."

Kakashi closed his eyes, clearly beaming at him. "You learn fast. I'm sure it will disgust you to know that you and your father had that in common."

It really didn't, for once, and Boruto said so, which only pleased Kakashi more.

"What else can you tell me about the Rinnegan?" Boruto asked.

Kakashi paused. "You know, since my concern here is not telling you things you shouldn't know, and Sasuke's is apparently forcing you to learn something, let's try a different approach. Why don't you ask me what you want to know about the Rinnegan? And no, I won't just tell you everything, so specify, please."

Boruto sighed. "Well, how did Sasuke end up with a Rinnegan and a Sharingan?"

"How do you think he did?"

"Um... did he have a transplant or something?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because most people aren't born with two doujutsu, right?"

"True." Kakashi leaned back in his chair. "This is definitely bordering on some things you shouldn't know yet. But it should be safe to tell you this: yes, Sasuke had a transplant at some point. Possibly not for the reasons or in the way that you're imagining, but he did."

Something in Kakashi's explanation drew Boruto's gaze back to the woman in the painting. Kakakshi had said he couldn't talk about her, but maybe...

"Is there a way to turn a Sharingan into a Rinnegan?"

Kakashi blinked several times. "Okay, you have to tell me where you got that from."

"Well, this woman in the picture. When I first saw her, I thought she had a Sharingan in her head. But that's not it, is it? It's got the same circles as a Rinnegan, and it's red and black like a Sharingan. So it's like she's got both in one eye. But Uchiha are known for having the Sharingan, and she doesn't look like one. She looks more like a Hyuga."

"Because of her Byakugan?" Kakashi asked.

Boruto shook his head. "She just looks like one. You know, like... a princess."

There was a rather uncomfortable pause in which Boruto was certain that Kakashi made the connection of the woman reminding Boruto of Hinata, but thankfully, he didn't mention it aloud.

"The trick to owning and using a Sharingan is all about meeting certain conditions," Kakashi said. "There are conditions under which a Sharingan becomes a Rinnegan. The reason for this is, as you're likely guessing, related to this doujutsu." He tapped the woman's red eye. "I can't give you more details, I'm afraid."

Boruto wasn't mad. He felt like he had enough information for the moment, at least about eyes. "So why would Sasuke want to change the world so bad? It seemed all-important to him. Like he'd do anything to make it happen."

"That is a long and sad story, all of which you are not cleared to know. But to summarize: Sasuke lost his entire clan at a very young age. It became his sole purpose in life to avenge their deaths. He later found out that everything he believed about that was not as it seemed, but this only changed the target of his vengeance, at first. Later, he came to believe that it was not just this one wrong that needed to be fixed, but the flawed shinobi system which created it that had to be done away with. Which was a problem for us, for many reasons. Mainly, because to him, we represented parts of that system he wanted to tear down."

"Which meant killing you and the Five Kage," Boruto finished.

Kakashi sighed. "He didn't hold back much, I see. Though he hasn't told you about his own past, which is a small blessing." He glanced at a nearby clock. "I do have other appointments today, Boruto, but there are two things I need to tell you before we end this. I hope they might help you figure this whole thing out."

Boruto leaned forward, fully expecting to get some key information.

"The first is something I learned, in a roundabout way, from the Nidaime Hokage. You should be very careful when dealing with Uchiha. Which is not to say that they aren't trustworthy, because they can be. But they do tend to feel love more deeply than most. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but when love turns to hate, you could also say that they hate more deeply than most. So I would suggest that you never give one reason to hate you. I don't think there is much chance of that, but I doubt it would kill you to be more sensitive around Sarada. She'll appreciate it, even if she never says so."

Boruto rolled his eyes. Being nice to girls was old advice that he got from nearly every adult. "And the second thing?"

"Always look underneath the underneath."

Boruto blinked. "Eh?"

With a puff of smoke, Kakashi vanished, leaving a log in his chair.

Boruto frowned. "Guess I'll let myself out, then."

"Nah, I'll do it, blondie," said a tiny bulldog that suddenly waddled into the room.

Boruto stared at it for a long moment, and then quickly made his escape.

* * *

The following morning, Boruto stepped onto the training field with purpose. If Sasuke was impressed, he gave no sign of it.

"I got a complaint before we start," Boruto said.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Your genjutsu needs to be more interactive. I can't even really do anything. I'm just sitting back and watching! If I'm supposed to be learning, I should be able to prove that I am by the choices that I make!"

Sasuke tilted his head slightly, considering that. "Hn."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

Sasuke was silent for a few seconds. "And... done."

Boruto blinked. "What, really? That was fas-"

* * *

Boruto learned a valuable lesson that day: don't complain about Sasuke's genjutsu.

The false world was indeed interactive now, but Boruto didn't get to choose who he played as this time. And as for who Sasuke had selected for him to play as for this session? That was so not cool. It was possible that this was meant to be a lesson, but it felt more like yet another example of Sasuke's increasingly notable cruel streak.

But there was no way to quit, and Boruto had asked for more freedom. So it was time to prove to Sasuke that whatever this lesson was truly about, Uzumaki Boruto was more than up to the challenge. And the restrictions only made Boruto even more determined to solve this puzzle.

So, with his resolve renewed, Boruto took his first step. In his father's corpse. And stared out over the drastically changed Konoha from the Hokage Rock, which now only depicted a single face. It was nothing like the village he'd known all of this life. The very air seemed heavier, the sky darker.

Within seconds, he was surrounded. Boruto gazed at the ten nearly identical white faces, each with a fully matured Sharingan. He recognized them at once, but not from his own memory. This was the branch family of the Uchiha clan: clones all descended from Uchiha Shin, who was little more than a clone factory himself. On Sasuke's orders, Orochimaru had repurposed them to serve as the new military police force in Konoha. They were, in fact, a death squad, carrying out public executions for even the slightest crimes, if the victim's corpse would be of use to Sasuke. And in a ninja village, there were few that weren't of at least some use. The clones were there to act as an escort, so that Sasuke would not need to waste any of his power on disciplinary matters. They said nothing and knelt before him, and when Boruto finally moved to head down into the village, they followed in silence.

* * *

 **Continued in Chapter 3: Spiral**

Boruto learns the importance of family bonds from unexpected sources.

* * *

 **Endnotes:**

"Tsu-baa" is what I've decided Boruto would call Tsunade. But I doubt that will be the case if she ever appears in the series.


	3. Spiral

Notes: Don't worry, the Boruto torment does have a point, and this really will be a brief history: I expect this won't go past six chapters.

* * *

 **A Brief History As Hokage**

 **A Naruto Fanfic by**

 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 3: Spiral**

* * *

It was immediately obvious: this was not the Konoha that Boruto had grown up in. The people were different. Oh, the ninja clans and civilians were still there, but they all seemed to be lacking something important. No one looked happy. They looked tired, or angry, or afraid, or hopeless. But no one seemed happy about the current state of the village. Particularly around him.

The reason for that last part, at least, was easy to understand. Naruto had become a hero to the whole world in the war. Sasuke had killed him, and was now parading around his corpse. Of course people didn't like that. It was part of why Sasuke had done it. Not just so he could eliminate the threat Naruto posed to him, or so he could control Naruto's power. It was because the very sight of Naruto now had the opposite impact that his existence once had. Naruto used to bring people hope. Now his presence only inspired despair.

And he wasn't the only one. Boruto learned that much through the fragmented whispers as he passed through the village. Tsunade's corpse was being used by Sasuke in the same manner. More so, in fact, because while Naruto did not always stay in the village, Tsunade did, as a constant reminder of the state of things.

The Five Kage had fallen. Fighting, most likely, but they'd still fallen to Sasuke. Which meant he had all of their bodies, and probably sent them back to their villages after he'd reanimated them, as well. Which, in Boruto's estimation, made Sasuke the most powerful man in the world.

He was right... but his reasoning was wrong.

Having the Five Kage under his control did make Sasuke strong. But he'd been strong enough to kill them all even before that.

* * *

Although Boruto had been given control of Naruto's corpse, he understood that he was likely not free to do whatever he wanted with it. He was surrounded by the Uchiha clones, for one thing, and though they were clearly trained to obey, their loyalty was to Sasuke. Boruto had no doubt that if he did anything to call his own allegiance into question, they would move against him.

But they weren't the only ones under Sasuke's control, and Boruto got an abrupt reminder of this when he heard a familiar voice echoing through his skull.

"There's an incident at the Hyuga compound."

There were no other details, and no overwhelming compulsion to obey. Sasuke merely told Boruto what has happening. Perhaps he simply trusted that Boruto would be unable to ignore the message. And he was right. Boruto had already lost one parent in this world, and he was not about to lose the one he had left.

But as it turned out, that was nowhere even close to being a concern at the moment. At least, Hinata wasn't the relative he was in danger of losing.

Boruto arrived at the Hyuga compound's front gate just in time to see Tsunade grabbing an elderly Hyuga by the throat and lifting his struggling body into the air. Boruto had to remind himself that Tsunade was under Sasuke's control now, as it was hard to supress the urge to interfere. Tsunade did not look his way, but suddenly, Boruto's perspective shifted. He was staring out of Tsunade's eyes, straight into the eyes of the Hyuga elder as Tsunade snapped his neck and tossed him aside. Boruto had no time to be digusted by this sight. He was too busy being far more disgusted by the large pile of Hyuga bodies that the elder landed in. Tsunade had clearly been at this for several minutes.

"You can end this at any time," Sasuke said through Tsunade, addressing the gathered and furious crowd of Hyuga. "Just bring me Hinata. For every minute that she fails to appear, another of you dies."

"We've told you, she isn't here!" one of the Hyuga shouted.

"And yet you cannot tell me where she is," Tsunade said. "That is unacceptable."

"She's in training to defeat you!" a voice cried.

The crowd parted, and Boruto's heart sank as Hanabi stepped forward.

Tsunade gazed at Hanabi calmly. "Really. Where?"

"I'm supposed to just tell you that, so you can go there and stop her?" Hanabi snorted. "I wouldn't tell you even if I did know!"

"You misunderstand. I have no desire to stop Hinata from doing anything. Her pointless quest to defeat me is amusing. I even look forward to what she will come up with next. But she and the rest of you are all still ninja under my command. When I give you an order, I will be obeyed."

"I don't know where my sister is, Hokage-sama," Hanabi spat.

Tsunade stared at Hanabi for a long moment. "Perhaps I've made a mistake."

"Are you expecting me to disagree?"

Tsunade slowly approached Hanabi. "Perhaps I've been targeting the wrong Hyuga."

Hanabi stiffened as Tsunade slowly reached out and lightly closed her fingers around Hanabi's throat.

"Hinata can afford to lose the elders of her clan," Tsunade murmured. "They were close to death, anyway. But someone young, who could drastically change the direction of the clan in a few years? Someone much closer to her. That should get a reaction out of her. Don't you agree?"

"I am prepared to die for my clan," Hanabi whispered.

"No. This isn't really about your clan at all. You'd be dying because your sister made a mistake."

"I am even more prepared to die for her," Hanabi insisted.

"I see." Tsunade gently traced Hanabi's cheek with a finger. "You are a credit to your clan and your sister, Hanabi. I would have been proud to have such a devoted little sister. Hinata allowing you to be sacrificed is unforgivable. I promise you this: when you are dead, I will add you to my collection, so that Hinata can always be reminded of her failure to protect you."

Hanabi's reaction was polite, compared to what Boruto wanted to do in that moment: she spat in Tsunade's face.

Tsunade did not even blink. And again, Boruto's view shifted, so that he was staring out of Tsunade's eyes as her fingers flexed and began to tighten their grip on Hanabi's throat.

If Boruto needed anything else to convince him to hate Sasuke, it was being forced to watch Hanabi's execution from that perspective. But his perspective tilted crazily before shifting sharply back to Naruto's body, and this time Sasuke was not completely to blame.

Boruto watched Tsunade's body sail through the air, and then crash violently through the compound wall.

Hanabi was staring in shock. She hadn't moved at all, and couldn't have been responsible. Not even Kaiten could have knocked Tsunade back with that much force, and more importantly, no one had used it in the first place.

"Don't ever touch or threaten Hanabi again, you monster."

There were shocked gasps and nervous murmurs from the crowd as Hinata simply appeared in their midst. There was an ethereal glow surrounding her body as she strode forward, apparently intending to finish what she'd started.

But in seconds, Tsunade was on her feet and crashing back through the wall. "You're late, Hinata," she said softly. "And see what your tardiness has cost your clan?" She gestured to the pile of bodies.

Hinata kept her gaze trained on Tsunade. "You threw a tantrum just to get me here, Sasuke. What do you want?"

"Only to remind you that you answer to me, Hinata." Tsunade's lips curved into a smile. "But since you finally are here, a question. Where were you?"

"I'm sure they already told you. I was training."

"Where?" Tsunade insisted.

Hinata smiled softly. "Somewhere the almighty gaze of the Sharingan cannot pierce, apparently."

"The amusement I gain from your defiance has limits, as does my patience. Tell me where you were, or I will start executing what remains of your clan. But Hanabi's example has inspired me. I will start with the young this time, and work my way up."

"It's not where I was that you really care about," Hinata replied. "It's what I was doing. And that much, I don't mind showing you."

Tsunade stared at her for a long moment, but finally nodded. "That is acceptable. Please, show me this ultimate technique that will lead to my downfall." She paused, and then laughed cruelly. "Show me the trick that was worth the lives of your revered elders."

With her eyes flashing in fury, Hinata merely pointed at Tsunade.

Nothing happened for several seconds.

Tsunade had just opened her mouth, surely to laugh again, when her head jerked sharply to the left, and then she slammed face-first into the ground.

Again, Tsunade got to her feet with notable speed, but this time with a startling addition: there was a large, purple, star-shaped seal stamped across the former diamond-shaped seal on her forehead.

"For your information, the 'trick' I've been learning? It's puppetry. I asked Kankuro to teach me the basics, if you care to verify. And I have you to thank, Sasuke. Watching you use the corpses of our greatest heroes as puppets inspired me. It reminded me that I can't be concerned about preserving them. But you are. And if they were damaged in such a way that you could not get full use out of them? That's a chink in your armor. A terribly small one, but it does mean you are not invincible."

"You can wield chakra strings with that much force?" Tsunade asked doubtfully.

"Puppetry is usually about fine-tuning and precise control. I can't use it that way, since the very idea of puppets makes me furious, thanks to you. But luckily for me, channeling righteous fury into it works wonders. And as for that new seal on you? You can think of that as a parting gift from Tsunade-sama. You won't be using her Strength of a Hundred Seal ever again. You can try, but the second you do, that foreign chakra will be released into her body, and trust me, it isn't compatible at all. So you tell me, Sasuke: do you think crippling your puppet was worth what I lost today?"

"Even without her seal, Tsunade's body remains formidable. So congratulations, you've made her slightly less deadly. But she didn't need her seal to reduce your clansmen to corpses today, and she won't need it the next time you don't come when called. You can call this a victory, if it pleases you. But I wonder how much of a celebratory mood you'll be in while you're collecting your dead." Tsunade turned and left without another word.

Boruto could not take his eyes off of Hinata. He had never known that his mother could be capable of such strength and daring. Had she always been that way? Or had the pain of losing Naruto forged her into such a powerful kunoichi?

Or maybe, since she had no children of her own to worry about, she could afford to take greater risks?

Hanabi directed some clansmen to remove the corpses, but Hinata stopped them.

"This is my fault. I will remove them," Hinata said. "Alone."

Hanabi frowned at her. "At least let me-"

"No, Hanabi. I'll do it. Sasuke was right about one thing. I do need to consider the costs that result from my actions. And I can think of no better way to do that."

"You did what you had to. We're all doing what we have to."

"I know. But I'm the one Sasuke goes out of his way to torment. They're dead because of me. I owe this to them, and I don't want any help."

Hanabi looked as if she still wanted to argue, but instead settled for giving Hinata a quick hug, then hurrying away.

Hinata watched her sister go, then glared at Boruto. "Do you intend to watch?"

Boruto was startled, and completely unprepared to answer, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "You're so strong." He didn't mean for it to be colored with disbelief, but he was certain it came out that way.

Hinata's expression didn't change. It took him a moment to realize that this had less to do with his statement, and more to do with the fact that she was talking to Sasuke through Naruto's corpse. His presence was only causing her more pain.

Boruto finally turned away and left the compound, the Uchiha clones following in silence. They hadn't been gone long when Boruto heard Sasuke's voice in his head once more.

"Return to base."

This only made sense when an enormous snake burst out the ground in front of him and opened its jaws wide. Boruto was momentarily panicked, but the realization that Sasuke summoned snakes quickly calmed him... somewhat. Taking a deep breath, and then feeling silly because corpses didn't need to breathe, he stepped into the snake's mouth, and tried not to wince when it slammed shut behind him.

* * *

When the snake opened its jaws a moment later, Boruto stepped into an underground corridor. The snake immediately vanished in a large cloud of smoke. With the snake gone, Boruto became aware of shouting from somewhere nearby. He followed the shouts until he came across what he recognized as a large training room.

The source of the shouts were obvious: three young children were sparring with each other. Though, if it was only sparring, Boruto thought they were being excessive. All of them were bleeding freely, one had a black eye, and one was favoring an arm that was popped out of the socket, if not broken entirely.

"That's enough," said a voice, and the children immediately stopped and lined up in order, tallest to smallest.

A woman with red, almost dark pink hair was seated off to the side, watching the children with a critical eye. It took Boruto a few seconds to place her face: she was Karin, the woman that had been with Sasuke's group.

She was visibly pregnant. This in itself was not particularly noteworthy to Boruto, except perhaps it was the reason why he hadn't known her sooner. She had certainly not been pregnant any other time he'd seen her.

"Mikoto," Karin said to the oldest child, a girl with knee-length hair the same shade as Karin's. "I know I told you not to pull your punches, but I didn't mean try to tear your brother's arm off."

"He called me a mama's girl!" Mikoto protested.

"And you aren't?" Karin asked mildly.

"Doesn't matter! He doesn't get to call me that! Not unless he can beat me, and I just proved that he still can't!"

Karin sighed. "Fugaku, since you can't control your mouth, and being a mama's girl is such a sin to you, then you can have Suigetsu pop your arm back into place."

Fugaku, the middle child, winced but didn't argue.

"And as for you, Itachi, I warned you earlier. This was strictly taijutsu. Don't think I didn't see you switch out with that earth clone."

The smallest boy scowled. "After what she did to his arm, I didn't want to risk it. I've got shuriken practice later."

Mikoto snorted. "I wouldn't do that to you unless you deserved it, dummy. If you're scared, it's because you probably do deserve it."

Itachi shot a look at his mother as if to say "told you so" and tried to be subtle about taking a step away from his sister.

Karin shook her head. "You all broke a rule, so I won't be healing any of you this time. You'll have to get fixed up on your own."

There were three loud groans at the news, but none of the kids seemed too concerned. Indeed, when Karin dismissed them, Mikoto and Itachi ran from the room in search of an alternate healer, and Fugaku followed somewhat more carefully, still mindful of his arm.

All three children had to pass Boruto, standing just outside of the doorway, as they exited. Not one bothered to look at him, although since he was doing nothing to conceal his presence, he felt certain they had to see him. And indeed, when he looked at Karin again seconds later, she was looking straight at him. None of that was important at the moment, however.

Just then, Boruto only had eyes for Mikoto as she left the room, and what he saw both comforted and disturbed him at the same time.

This redheaded girl named Mikoto, who could only be Sasuke's daughter with Karin... she had Sarada's face.

* * *

Boruto had many questions after he left Sasuke at the training field, but there were two that stood out in his mind.

Was his mother truly capable of such great strength?

And if Sarada, or rather someone with her face, existing was such a priority to Sasuke, then why had it been so necessary for him to kill Sakura at all? And for Sarada and Sasuke's other children to have been born to Karin instead was... weird, but it presented a new issue: what had happened to Karin, this woman who could have been Sarada's mother? Boruto had never seen her in the village, and Sarada had never mentioned her. Not, Boruto realized with a frown, that he had ever bothered to ask about Sarada's family beyond her father.

Boruto briefly stopped at home, and was pleasantly surprised to find that his mother already had a lunch packed for him, having assumed he would be in a hurry. He felt an unexpected rush of affection for her, and without thinking, gave her brief, tight hug.

Hinata stared at Boruto curiously for a second, but stroked his head fondly before he slipped away, already cramming part of his lunch into his mouth as he ran to the front door. He took three more steps before doubling back.

"Kaa-chan, do you know puppetry? Like they do in Suna?" he blurted out around a mouth full of riceball.

Hinata gave him a meaningful look, so he swallowed, apologized, and repeated the question.

"No, I don't," Hinata answered. "You know that Hyuga don't typically bother learning things like that."

"So Kankuro never taught you?"

Hinata looked very surprised. "Kankuro? No. Why would he?"

Boruto hesitated. "Because... he's the only puppet user you know?" he guessed.

"He isn't, actually. And he isn't even the one most likely to have taught me. Really, if he was going to teach anyone here, it would probably be Sakura."

"Huh? How come?"

"I'm sure you've heard the story by now. Sakura was able to extract a normally fatal poison from him, a long time ago. He's only alive today because of her."

"Oh. Thanks, kaa-chan." Boruto left the house at a much slower pace this time, more confused than ever. In the genjutsu, Hinata had claimed that Kankuro taught her puppetry. It could have been that Kankuro taught Hinata because she was trying to defeat Sasuke, the one who had killed the woman who saved Kankuro's life.

Or, Hinata had been lying and using Kankuro as a convenient excuse, possibly to protect this other puppet user from Sasuke. But there were no puppet users in Konoha, as far as Boruto knew. And Kankuro was supposed to be the most famous puppet user in Suna right now, so surely there wasn't someone more qualified than him there?

* * *

There were two things that Boruto had come to appreciate about Sarada, over time. She always believed in him, and she managed to recover from anything that unbalanced her within seconds.

So when Boruto appeared outside of her bedroom window, to find Sarada wearing only a towel, one thing did not happen: she did not freak out, scream that he was a pervert, and start spitting fireballs at him.

Instead, they merely stared at each other, less out of nervousness, and more because as calm as they still were, neither of them knew quite how to proceed. It was not in Boruto's nature to go around peeping on girls close to him, nor was it in Sarada's nature to assume such a grossly inaccurate thing of him.

Finally, Sarada sighed and opened the window for him. "You had better get in here, before someone catches you out there and gets the wrong idea."

"Wouldn't they get an even worse idea, if they caught me in here with you now?" Boruto asked as he climbed in.

Sarada shrugged. "In any case, I know that's not what you're about. I'm sure I could convince Mama, if it came to that. So, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training with Papa?"

"Uh, we're done for the day," Boruto replied. "The sessions are pretty intense, so he gives me the rest of the day to recover, I guess." He paused. "Sorry they're making me miss practice with you guys."

Sakura waved him off. "It's fine. Papa cleared it with Sensei, and Mitsuki suggested we do some sparring. That's why I came home to shower. He was really fired up today, for some reason."

"Maybe he's got a crush on you?" Boruto asked with a sly grin.

Sarada laughed immediately. "I'm not the one that needs to worry about that." She gestured to her closet. "Mind if I get dressed while you talk, or is this something extremely important that demands my full attention?"

Boruto shrugged. "I think it's important, but yeah, you better get dressed. I'd rather you be wearing clothes if your mother did come in here."

Sarada went into the closet and shut the door firmly behind her. Boruto wasn't a pervert in her mind, but she also didn't want to tempt him. "So, what's up?"

"Um, this may make no sense at all to you, but... do you know a woman with red hair?"

"That's a pretty random question."

"I know, but do you?"

"What, are you searching for lost Uzumaki or something?"

Boruto froze. That made an alarming amount of sense. He had seen pictures of his father's mother, Kushina, and she'd had red hair. But really, she was the only Uzumaki with red hair he'd ever recalled seeing. So red hair was not an instant red flag to him, but perhaps it should have been. Kakashi had said Karin was related to Boruto distantly. Apparently red hair used to be more common among Uzumaki women.

And, he noticed with a slight sense of dread, Sarada had not answered his question, and in fact, seemed to be avoiding doing so. It was probably a good thing that he couldn't see her face just then, as it would have exposed one or both of them.

"Hey, Sarada...? Do you know anyone named... Karin?"

There was a pause, so long that Boruto started to think she hadn't heard him.

"How do you...?" Sarada finally whispered. "Did Papa tell you?"

"I guess you could say that he sort of did," Boruto answered. He wanted to be careful, because obviously, Karin could not be the exact same person in both worlds. There was no way she was Sarada's mother here. But somehow, there was still a connection between them. And until Boruto knew exactly what that was, he had to be cautious to not say the wrong thing.

"What... did he say?" Sarada asked. "About her?"

Boruto winced. "Not much. Really, it was Kakashi who filled in the blanks, and all he said was that we were distantly related, and that she knew your father. I was wondering if you knew anything about her? I mean, why doesn't she live here? We're her family, right? It seems like something tou-chan would be insistent about. You know what he's like."

The closet door slowly opened. Sarada's hair was a mess, looking as if she had yanked on the white T-shirt, and the tugged on a pair of red shorts. There was an unreadable expression on her as she sat down on her bed and began to brush her hair.

"Karin... she doesn't think that way," Sarada murmured. "Her family died a long time ago. By the time she met Nanadaime-sama... well, he wasn't yet, back then. But she'd already gotten used to living for herself. And in any case, our... countries... were enemies. The only way she'd be here is as a prisoner. And she actually was, for a while. I'm sure, if she had stayed, that Rokudaime-sama or Nanadaime-sama would have done something to help her, once they were Hokage. But she left. She doesn't see your family as being her family. So that wouldn't have been reason enough for her to stay."

Boruto stared at Sarada. He had not expected her to know that much about Karin, maybe just a little more than he did. But the way she spoke, it was as if they knew each other. "Who is Karin to you, Sarada? You seem like you know her well."

"Oh, that's-" Sarada began, then stopped. "I mean, I've never met her. But, well, we're... how to put it best? We have a unique bond, that much is true."

"Is she a friend?" Boruto guessed, because it didn't seem like Sarada was upset.

"That's not... I wouldn't call her just a friend. She's more like... an aunt, I guess? It's hard to explain. I've never had to explain it to anyone. I probably shouldn't even be telling you."

"Why not?" Boruto asked. "Is she supposed to be a secret?"

Sarada nodded. "Less like supposed to be, and more like is. When I said she left, it's more accurate to say she escaped."

"So, no chance of me meeting her then," Boruto murmured.

"No." Sarada paused and stared at him. "Do you... want to meet her?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, not really. She just, you know, sounds really interesting. And I don't know any other Uzumaki except my family."

"Well," Sarada said slowly, as if trying to gauge his intentions, "you could send her a message."

Boruto blinked. "How would I do that?"

"Same way I do." Sarada turned to her closet. "Akane, could you come out, please?"

At first, Boruto thought Sarada was messing with him, but then there was a thump, and then a red-furred animal sprang out of the closet, landing neatly in Sarada's lap. Boruto's first impression was that it was a weasel of some kind. A very intelligent one, judging by the way it cautiously stared at him as Sarada began to stroke its fur.

"Akane, this is my teammate, the one I told you about," Sarada said.

"You didn't say he wasn't a red," the animal said, startling Boruto.

"Am I supposed to pretend I know what's going on here?" Boruto asked.

"Sorry," Sarada apologized. "Akane is a mongoose. Her clan used to have a summon contract exclusively with the Uzumaki clan. At the moment, she doesn't have a summoner, so she's been doing me a huge favor by carrying messages to and from Karin."

"Correction: I'm doing your Hokage a huge favor," Akane chimed in. "There aren't many of us left, but our laws are firm: we only partner with Uzumaki. You're a nice kid, Sarada, but I'm only allowed to stick around here because there are two uncontracted Uzumaki nearby. And if one of them doesn't sign up soon, you'll have to find yourself a new messenger."

"So could I be your summoner?" Boruto asked before he really thought about it.

Akane stared at him. "Let's find out. I need to see some blood."

Boruto stiffened. "What?"

"Relax, kid. I need to make sure you've got Uzumaki blood in you. A few drops is enough."

"Oh." Boruto bit his thumb, then offered it to Akane, who sniffed it for several seconds.

"Okay, you're good. Yeah, you can be my summoner."

"Uh, don't I need to take a test, or prove my character or something?"

Akane rolled her eyes. "Kid, the Uzumaki are nearly extinct. We can't be too picky when we find one that's willing. They tend to be very attractive to summon clans, and if we don't snatch them up, someone else will."

"Then why aren't you contracted with Karin?"

"It's not like I didn't try. She wasn't interested. I can't blame her, when her boss is a snake summoner. Signing up with a mongoose wouldn't be the best idea. A lot of us are immune to snake venom, and we have a bit of a reputation of not losing to snakes, despite their greater numbers. As you might have guessed, they never really got over it. So while none of them mess with me, if Karin were to become my summoner, they'd take it out on her. And her boss would either kick her out, or force her to stay and take it. Not exactly the best situation to leave a summoner in. Even me just taking her messages is pushing it, really. But she says she doesn't mind that. Sarada is worth it."

Sarada blushed slightly, but said nothing.

"Anyway, a summoner would be a huge help," Akane continued. "I could get around a lot faster. Also, we're a lot more flexible than most summons. We don't mind sharing our summoners, even though most do. I would have signed up the Hokage, but the toads said no, and I didn't want any trouble with them. But he said if I was lucky, one of his kids might sign up. And in the meantime, he introduced me to Sarada."

"So you've just been waiting for me or Himawari?" Boruto asked.

"Aside from taking the occasional message? Pretty much. But I asked Sarada not to approach either of you. Didn't want you to get the idea that I was forcing the issue just because you were Uzumaki. Wanted it to happen naturally. And hey, here we are. If you ever decide to call it quits, so long as you put in a good word with your sister for us, we can make it a clean break. No hard feelings."

"Sounds like a good deal," Boruto admitted. "But what about Sarada?"

"If you're so concerned about her, I can just stay here until you need me for something," Akane offered. "And if you only need me to deliver messages for her, even better."

"And you don't care that I'm really only doing this for a friend?"

Akane chuckled. "I can tell you haven't been an Uzumaki for very long."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I've never heard of a more strong-willed yet well-meaning group of people. They are exactly the sort I would expect to do something like this. If you weren't willing to go at least this far for something you wanted, I'd have to re-check your blood."

* * *

Boruto was unusually quiet as he sat down for dinner with his mother and sister that evening. He had expected becoming a summoner to make him feel different, somehow. But it really didn't.

After he'd signed the contract, Akane had him practice a few times to make sure he knew how to summon her properly. Once she was satisfied, she had Boruto dismiss and re-summon her one last time. The purpose of which was her presenting him with a faded, forest green neckerchief, with the red Uzumaki spiral displayed proudly on the front. Akane insisted that Boruto put it on her, apparently as part of a tradition to show that she was now partnered with an Uzumaki. With that done... Akane promptly announced her plan to return to Sarada's closet and resume her nap. When Boruto implied that maybe she was being lazy, Akane was quick to point out that neither of them had anything for her to do at the moment, which was true.

And that was the problem. Boruto had done this almost entirely for Sarada, but also partially so he could contact Karin... except now he had no idea what to even say to her. He should have gotten more information out of Sarada, who had thanked him three times for becoming Akane's summoner. He'd never seen her so grateful, and it started to freak him out, so he made some excuse and got out of there in a hurry. He didn't regret his choice, but he did wish he'd thought about it a little longer. Akane hadn't mentioned a firm deadline for when she had to leave, if she remained without a summoner, and she hadn't seemed pushy about it, either. So it likely hadn't been within the next few days.

Boruto had just taken the first bite of his dinner when he heard the front door open and close. Although he knew who it was even before they entered the kitchen, he was still shocked when his father, not a Shadow Clone but his flesh and blood father, walked in.

"Sorry I'm late," Naruto apologized as he sat down heavily in his chair. "So, what did I miss?"

"We just started," Hinata murmured, a little surprised herself. She recovered quickly, though, and was soon loading down Naruto's plate with as much food as it could possibly be expected to hold reasonably. Himawari, wanting to help, ran to get him a glass of water, and was rewarded with a kiss on her forehead.

Boruto just stared, still in some disbelief.

Naruto noticed his gaze and grinned. "I ran into your furry friend on the way home."

Boruto's immediate reaction was annoyance, but then he reconsidered. Akane had said she didn't want trouble with the toads, and that Naruto had allowed her to remain in the village. So it wasn't all that surprising that she would have informed him of her success. Anyway, Naruto looked amused, not upset, so maybe it wasn't a problem.

"Not going to tell me I should have held out for a better offer?" Boruto asked.

"Not when I've been dreading you coming home with a snake. And still could, if you changed your mind. I'm sure you had your reasons." Naruto chuckled. "Mysterious as they may be." Except the look on his face implied that it was no mystery at all, and Boruto's annoyance returned in an instant.

"Maybe I had reasons you know nothing about," Boruto suggested as calmly as he could.

"Maybe," Naruto agreed easily enough, which caught Boruto off guard. "Even a Hokage can miss some things. Oh, but remind me to warn you about reverse summoning. It can be a pretty bad shock the first few times."

* * *

Later that night, Boruto was suddenly hit with inspiration, though a rather limited amount. On a blank scroll, he wrote out a brief message.

"To Karin. My name is Uzumaki Boruto. I'm Sarada's teammate. I was hoping I could ask you a few questions. I'd like to learn more about our clan."

After reading it over several times, Boruto was sure of two things: it sounded nothing like what he'd actually say in person, and it was probably polite enough for a total stranger. With that done, he summoned Akane, who was oddly wide awake, and gave her the scroll to deliver. Thankfully, she did not read it, and in fact promised she wouldn't. She did add, however, that Karin would sometimes discuss the contents of Sarada's letters with her, so she made no promises if that should happen with his.

* * *

Sasuke was not in the training field when Boruto arrived the next morning. Instead, there was a hawk with a note tied to its leg. Having never handled a hawk, and being mindful of its fearless glare, Boruto was very careful in extracting the note. The hawk put up with his fumbling attempts well enough, but the second it was relieved of the note, it flew off at once.

There was only one word on the note: "Wait."

Boruto was annoyed enough that it took him almost a minute to realize that the handwriting wasn't Sasuke's, even if the summon was.

The first glowing chain nearly took his head off, and Boruto only managed to dodge it because he heard the links knocking against each other.

But that was wrong. He heard the first chain because he was supposed to, so it would distract him enough where he failed to notice the second chain, which was totally silent and pulling tight around his neck before he even realized it. There was a hard jerk, and Boruto saw stars as he struggled to breathe. Then he was slamming face-first into the ground, even as more chains wrapped tightly around his body and squeezed enough to where he was sure his ribs were about to break.

A hand seized him by the hair and yanked his head back roughly, and Boruto felt the cold steel of a kunai pressed against his throat.

"I only want to know one thing," whispered an angry voice in his ear.

Boruto looked up and was shocked by what he saw.

Karin was staring down at him, cold fury in her red eyes as more glowing chains rustled restlessly behind her. "What the hell are you trying to do to my precious Sarada-chan?!"

* * *

 **Continued in Chapter 4: Deliverer**

Meeting with Karin does not go well for Boruto. Ever. But it just may be exactly what he needs.

* * *

 **Endnotes:**

Boruto not knowing that Uzumaki Mito had red hair is based on, as I always say, him not being a student of history. He barely seemed to know who Hashirama was, so I suspect Sarada is the history buff on the team. There probably should be some sort of museum or archive that has pictures of important people in Konoha's history, but even if it were available to the general public, I can't see Boruto ever wanting to go there. And even if he went on a field trip, his actually paying attention isn't really a safe bet, either. Thankfully, he at least knew who Minato was, so I assume the same goes for Kushina. And if there aren't any pictures of her lying around, I would hope Sai would have at least drawn one for Naruto by now.

Do not adjust your computer monitor, you read that right: Sarada and Karin are penpals, but haven't met yet. And Sarada knows more than you were likely expecting. I know, I know, it's an insane concept in Naruto, a person who can't visit but actually bothers to keep in touch with a kid.


	4. Deliverer

**A Brief History as Hokage**

 **A Naruto Fanfic by**

 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 4: Deliverer**

* * *

In the end, Boruto could not be sure if it was because he was the Hokage's son, or if Karin had been so determined to kill him that she'd charged into the village in broad daylight, not caring who saw her. All he knew was that within seconds of Karin subduing him, the training field was filled with Leaf-nin, all eager to save him.

More importantly, standing among them was the one person he was sure could get him out of this mess... if only because she could put him back together, if Karin ripped him to pieces.

"Tsu-baa!" Boruto bawled, the combined abruptness and volume of his cry distracting Karin enough where he was able to substitute himself with a clipboard that Tsunade was carrying. He immediately latched onto the older woman's waist for safety, and was greeted by her scowl and the all too familiar sensation of a sharp, bony knuckle driven into the top of his skull. But he'd take that over being strangled any day.

And it wasn't just that he was safe. He was genuinely glad to see Tsunade. Alive, and acting exactly like she was supposed to. True, he usually wasn't glad to see her, since he associated her with boring hospital stays or embarrassing physical examinations. But if there was one thing he could count on, it was that Tsunade needed him alive in order to continue tormenting him, which surely brought her great pleasure, and that she would flatten anyone who got in the way of her fun.

Which was an admittedly odd way to think of his godmother, but despite all of her faults, Tsunade had never failed protect Boruto if someone meant to cause him serious harm within her sight.

Though, she certainly seemed to be taking her time with it today. In fact, she hadn't moved from her original spot, nor had she given any sort of order to the other ninja, so most of them were staring at her expectantly. Kind of the same way Tsunade was staring at Karin.

It took Boruto a moment to remember that Tsunade and Karin might not be total strangers. If the genjutsu world could be depended on, Tsunade had at least seen Karin once. He wasn't sure if that would explain the hesitation that he was seeing now, though.

Karin still looked furious, and was still glaring at Boruto, but she hadn't attacked again, perhaps recognizing that she was outnumbered, or simply not wanting to have to go through Tsunade. But she also hadn't put her chains away.

Finally, one of the ninja standing closest to Tsunade spoke. "Godaime-sama, isn't this woman with that group?"

"It must be her! She went missing during the war," another added. "We never found a body!"

"There's no doubt! She's Karin!"

Tsunade finally turned away from Karin and rapped Boruto on the head with her knuckle again. "Well, brat? Are they right?"

Rubbing his aching head, Boruto stared up at Tsunade curiously. He didn't know why she was asking him that, he'd never met Karin before. How could he possibly be expected to identify her now?

Unless... he wasn't supposed to. Because if he did, chances were Karin would go directly to prison, and she would never answer any of his questions then. And he didn't even want to think of how upset Sarada would be, when she learned of his role in that matter.

"She's Rinka," Boruto stated plainly. "My sparring partner for today."

Even Karin looked stunned by the rather obvious lie.

"Godaime-sama, surely you don't think-" one of the ninja began.

"Are you calling _my_ godson a liar?" Tsunade demanded, her eyes flashing with barely concealed outrage.

"No, of course not!" the ninja protested. "Just, he might be mistaken-!"

Boruto jabbed a finger at the developing bruise around his neck. "If we weren't sparring, then how did I get this, huh?"

"She was trying to assassinate you?" the ninja suggested weakly.

"Do you think we'd all be standing here staring at her if that was true? All bragging aside, I am the Hokage's son! I think I know the difference between someone appointed to spar with me, and someone trying to kill me! Rinka was just doing her job! And doing it well, if you mistook her for an assassin!"

"But she does resemble Karin," the ninja pointed out.

"Well, she should resemble her twin sister, shouldn't she?"

At this point, the ninja promptly gave up.

"And even if she were Karin," Tsunade added, "I would immediately offer her a full pardon. She saved my life during the war, and in fact had to escape our custody in order to do that. Which more than outweighs any crimes she may or may not have committed, or any information she may or may not have withheld under our questioning. All of which I'm sure my fellow Hokage will back me up on, so go ahead and notify them, because I can tell that you're dying to."

"But remember: she's Rinka, not Karin," Boruto was quick to add. "Hair's different. On the side."

He wasn't sure if they ignored him, or if they heard him and were just refusing to admit it.

* * *

Karin had the decency to wait until the three of them were safely in Tsunade's home before she tried to murder Boruto again. She didn't use chains this time, but she was deceptively fast. And while she didn't hit as hard as Tsunade, she was still able to pack a great deal of force into her blows, to the point where Boruto couldn't really tell the difference after the first few. Although her aiming for his head may have had something to do with it, as well.

Tsunade finally stopped them after about ten minutes. "Now, is someone going to tell me what this is all about, considering you two have never met before today?"

Boruto opened his mouth to say that he had no idea what Karin's problem was, but before he could...

"He's trying to take advantage of my precious Sarada-chan!" Karin shouted.

"I did what now?" Boruto asked in shock.

"You mean _Uchiha_ Sarada?" Tsunade asked, in just as much disbelief.

Karin glared at her. "Yes!"

"The one that lives in _this_ village?" Boruto added, because he was sure there was some mistake. "Why would I...? No, wait, before that, how could I even take advantage of her? She's the one always telling me how much smarter than me she is!"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Karin shrieked. "Or her! I know you're trying to trick her!"

"Into WHAT?!" Boruto cried. He had no idea what Karin was thinking.

"Into being your girlfriend!"

Boruto stared at her. "Why would I need to trick her? Either she wants to be my girlfriend, or she doesn't. And by the way? SHE DOESN'T! And even if she did, I don't even want a girlfriend right now! The only one who got tricked around here is clearly you!"

"You liar!" Karin yelled. "I know what you're up to! You just want to use her and then toss her away like trash!"

"Who the hell would be stupid enough to do that?! I have to see her every day!"

"Okay, stop," Tsunade cut in. "Karin, where is all of this coming from? I've known Boruto all of his life. None of this sounds like anything he'd do, and certainly not to someone he cared for and respected. Which is exactly how he feels about Sarada, I've seen it."

"What about the message he sent me?!" Karin whipped out Boruto's note and threw it at him.

"What, this?!" Boruto cried. "All I said was that I was Sarada's teammate! How the hell do you get 'I'm going to use her and throw her away' from that?!"

"It's not about what's in the message, it's the message itself! You signed up with Akane for Sarada-chan so she'd owe you!"

"No, I didn't! I did it because she's my friend, and she needed my help!"

"That's crap! No boy would ever do something like that without demanding something in return!"

Boruto glared at Karin. "Are you so stupidly paranoid that you think Sarada is dumb enough to get taken in by someone who would treat her so badly? Don't you dare insult my teammate like that! There's no way that could ever happen to someone as smart as her!"

Karin fell silent, her face going red as she struggled to come up with a response.

"Are you going to answer him?" Tsunade asked mildly. "Because I'm curious myself."

"I don't trust you," Karin said at last, sticking her finger in Boruto's face. "I won't trust anyone with Sarada-chan's heart. Least of all some lippy brat who hides behind a Hokage! I won't let you or anyone else hurt her! I promise you, if you ever give me any reason to think you have, she'll be crying tears of blood for you out of her new Mangekyo Sharingan!"

"What the hell does that even _mean_?!" Boruto shouted, throwing up his hands in frustration, but Karin refused to say another word in his presence.

Tsunade took Boruto aside. "I think we've hit a dead end here. Go get Sarada."

"Why?" Boruto asked at once. "I'm not so sure we should trust her around Sarada."

"You're only saying that because you're pissed. Now imagine how Sarada would feel if she found out that Karin was here, and that you kept that information from her."

Boruto scowled at her. "Fine. But I'm doing this under protest!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You do everything an adult asks under protest. Just go, brat."

* * *

Though Boruto was somewhat expecting it, he was still surprised when Sakura answered the door at the Uchiha home instead of Sarada.

"Oh, Boruto," Sakura said, sounding a little surprised herself. "You're just in time, we're finishing up breakfast. Have you eaten yet? There's plenty left."

Before Boruto could respond, he heard a voice from within the house. It was Sarada's, she was talking to someone, she called that someone "Papa", and Boruto was instantly furious.

"That sounds lovely, thanks," Boruto said, pouring as much insincerity into the words as he could. And then he walked past her, into the house.

Sakura blinked, shook her head, then shut the door and followed him to the kitchen.

Sarada was putting the leftovers into containers. Sasuke was apparently supervising, if it were possible to do that by not helping at all. Sakura returned to the sink, where she'd been washing the breakfast dishes.

Boruto stood there, pointedly ignoring Sasuke, because it was now clear that Sasuke must have set him up to be strangled by Karin, and then gone home to have a nice family breakfast. Boruto still hadn't decided how best to bring up the topic of Karin with Sarada. Or maybe he was still annoyed enough at Karin that he wanted to stall the eventual meeting as long as possible.

So, talking to Sasuke or Sarada wasn't really an option. Which may have been why Boruto interrupted Sakura before she could get started on the dishes again.

"Could I speak to you in private?" he asked.

Sakura's eyebrows rose in surprise. Considering Boruto's reaction to her invitation, she'd been sure that she was the last person that he wanted to visit with. "Um... sure."

Sasuke had no reaction as Sakura and Boruto went into the next room, though Sarada gave Boruto a curious glance. He caught her eye and merely shook his head. He didn't want her involved, yet.

Boruto surprised himself by immediately asking Sakura, "Do you know puppetry?"

Sakura gave him a blank look which quickly turned into a smirk. "No, but I've got a standing offer if I ever want to learn it. And if you want to learn it, you should just accept the offer in my place, since I'm not going to. I get the feeling that Kankuro doesn't like owing people favors."

Boruto was relieved: finally, something that made sense. "How come you don't want to learn?"

"It's complicated. But the biggest reason is sentimental. I worked with another Suna puppet master on a mission. She's the only one I'd ever want to learn from. But she died on that mission, and I wouldn't feel right, learning from anyone else. That, and I don't particularly want to learn. Puppetry is more about working with non-living things. That's a complete departure from my area of specialization."

That, Boruto could definitely respect now. He'd seen more than enough of people working with non-living things lately.

"You didn't actually stop by just to ask me that, right?" Sakura guessed.

"No," Boruto answered. "I need to get back to my training with Sasuke. And I need to tell Sarada something, but I really don't want to."

"You mean about the aggressive visitor you ran into this morning?"

Boruto gaped at her. "How did you know?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and pointed to herself. "Slug summoner."

"What does that have to do with-?"

"Who do you think taught me how to summon them, and let me sign the contract?"

Boruto groaned. "Tsu-baa?"

"Sent me a slug the second you left her place. You want me to heal some of those scratches? If that's all you got from you-know-who, you're one lucky kid."

"Do _you_ know why she's so insane?" Boruto demanded.

Sakura sighed. "Well, I can tell you from experience that she's only insane when it comes to people she's extremely passionate about."

"Would you trust her around Sarada?"

Sakura smiled sadly. "I would and I have. I'm guessing she didn't get around to explaining the first time she and Sarada met?"

"No." Boruto wasn't aware they'd met at all, since Sarada had said they hadn't. But he decided to leave out that Karin had been too busy trying to kill him, and then unjustly accusing him, to explain anything about her past. Though he suspected Sakura already knew that.

"She was the first person who ever held Sarada," Sakura stated.

Boruto blinked. "Wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Karin delivered Sarada. That's why she's so attached... and over-protective. Well, part of why, anyway."

"So she's not crazy? She just really loves Sarada?"

Sakura made a noncommittal noise that in no way assured Boruto of Karin's sanity. "It's more accurate to say she's crazy about Sarada. But yes, there is a deep love there. I wish I could have encouraged it more, but life got in the way. So as much trouble as Karin's being here might cause, I'm glad she is here. And as much trouble as Karin will no doubt cause you, I'll warn you now: don't make Sarada choose between you two."

Though he accepted the warning for what it was, Boruto just had to ask. "You think Sarada wouldn't pick me?"

Sakura shook her head. "I know that no matter who she picked, if she did at all, nobody would be happy with the result. Least of all Sarada herself."

Boruto didn't like it, but he knew now what he had to do. No, he'd known from the moment he saw Karin. He just hadn't wanted to admit it to himself. But there truly was no avoiding it.

He went back into the kitchen, where Sarada was putting away the last of the food. "Hey, Sarada? I need to tell you something. I don't know how you'll feel-"

"Before that," Sasuke interrupted, drawing a glare from Boruto. "You have one last session."

"This is more important," Boruto insisted.

"Even so," Sasuke replied. "You'll do this first."

"Why?" Boruto demanded.

"We had an agreement. You won't stop until we're done."

"I'm not stopping, I'm just taking a short break because this is more important! You know, to your daughter?"

"Unacceptable."

"What the hell is your problem?!"

"Students who don't keep their word. Even your father always managed to do that."

Boruto exploded at that point. "YOU DON'T GET TO TALK ABOUT MY-!"

"Boruto!" Sarada cried.

Boruto stopped and stared at her. She wasn't angry at him, like he'd expected. Rather, she looked worried about him. "Sarada, I..." He trailed off, unable to finish.

"What sort of training have you two been doing?" Sarada asked softly.

"It would be easier to show you," Sasuke said after a pause.

"NO!" Boruto shouted at once. The last thing he ever wanted was for Sarada to know what sort of monster her father could have been. And he wasn't even sure if Sarada knowing what sort of mother Karin could have been would be more damaging than that.

Sasuke stared at him. "Relax. The last session deals primarily with your family."

Boruto scowled at him. "What family, you already-" he started to say, then caught Sarada looking at him and fell silent. "Why would you even want Sarada to see this?" he asked instead.

"It's less about what I want, and more about what she needs," Sasuke said. When Boruto appeared unimpressed, he added, "My daughter isn't so weak that something like this would break her. You greatly underestimate her."

"It's got nothing to do with that! Anyone who wouldn't try to protect a friend is trash!" Boruto snapped.

Sasuke's eyes widened, just for an instant. "You might just pass this test after all."

* * *

The first thing Boruto became aware of was the two red lights floating in the darkness. After a moment, he realized it was the glow of Sarada's eyes: she had activated her Sharingan.

"Boruto?" she asked, shaking him a bit.

With a start, he realized that he was lying on a cold floor, and immediately sat up. It was, thankfully, his own body. So at least he didn't have to worry about explaining being in his father's corpse.

"Where are we?" Sarada asked, glancing around. "I don't know this place."

Boruto soon saw that he didn't, either. It was a dark, circular chamber. There was only one thing of interest in the room: a staircase leading down.

"He's never brought me here before," Boruto muttered.

Sarada looked at him, frowned, but said nothing.

"Why the eyes?" Boruto asked.

She blinked and blushed slightly. "Oh. I thought maybe there was something hidden in here. There wasn't." The Sharingan quickly faded from her eyes.

"It was a good idea," Boruto said. "We should keep it in mind."

Sarada stared at him, clearly confused. "Okay?"

"What?"

"You're not usually this... supportive? Agreeable?"

He frowned. "Wow. Thanks a lot."

"No, I mean... forget it." She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. "We should check downstairs."

Boruto pouted. "Don't wanna. I don't wanna be too _agreeable_."

Sarada shook her head. "Idiot," she muttered, fondly. She reached the stairs first, paused to activate her Sharingan, and stared intently at the stairs for a long moment. Finally, she nodded and started to head down, with Boruto following her closely.

The stairs ended in another chamber, but this one proved far more interesting. The walls were lined, from floor to ceiling, with rows and rows of shelves. Each shelf was filled with green, softly glowing glass orbs.

Boruto immediately got a bad feeling about the orbs. He was almost positive that they had the same glow his mother had, when she'd mysteriously appeared in the Hyuga compound to challenge Sasuke. He wasn't sure he liked the possible connection.

Sarada had already begun to inspect one of the orbs. After a few seconds, she poked it with a finger. The orb turned yellow, and at once, a circular panel in the floor lit up, displaying a hologram of the orb's contents.

"Kaa-chan," Boruto breathed softly.

It was her, but as a young girl. She was seated between an Inuzuka and an Aburame, and was nervously twiddling her thumbs as she glanced around expectantly. A small, white puppy dozed in her lap, his tail twitching occasionally as he dreamed.

"These are memories," Sarada said slowly as the hologram faded. She looked at another orb. "Look, this one is-"

The floor lit up again, and Boruto gasped sharply at the sight: his young mother, unconscious and barely breathing, blood staining the front of clothing as she was loaded onto a stretcher. And his young father, dipping his knuckles in the spilled bood, and vowing on it to win.

"All of these are her memories," Sarada said. "Or about her, at least. But why are they here?"

"Why are we here?" Boruto countered.

"Maybe there's a particular memory you need to find?"

Boruto frowned. "Why me?"

Sarada blinked. "She's your mother. And it's your training session. I assume it would be about you reaching a goal, not me doing it for you. I don't even know what happened in the other sessions." She paused. "And I can see that you don't want to tell me, so start looking."

Boruto was impressed. Sarada did not sound annoyed that he was keeping things from her, just annoyed that he wasn't doing his share of the work. But then, she'd always been that way. He was allowed to have his secrets, but not to slack off when there was work to do.

They soon found that the memories were somewhat in order. Boruto immediately moved to the more recent ones, and suggested that Sarada look through the earlier ones. His attempt to shield her from the truth was pointless, however. There was no way to tell what orb held what memory without touching them, and they would both stop to watch whenever a memory was displayed.

All too soon, Sarada was watching Sasuke order the reanimated Team 7 to execute Lee and assault their friends. Oddly, she made no comment about it, but merely turned stiffly back to the orbs and poked one that showed Hinata throwing a stick to the white puppy, who she called Akamaru.

"That's why you were so mad at Papa earlier," Sarada murmured. "Because he's been showing you things like that?"

Boruto nodded.

"I'm sorry, Boruto."

"Not your fault."

Sarada sighed. "Has he at least said why he's doing this?"

"I'm supposed to figure it out, but I still have no clue," Boruto admitted.

"But you've been at this for days. You must have learned something by now."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

Sarada gave him a look. "I have faith in you," she said simply.

Boruto frowned. "I guess there's one thing I didn't know before this. But I don't think it's what I'm supposed to learn."

"Well, what is it?" Sarada asked.

"Kaa-chan... she's really strong here," Boruto murmured. "I don't know if she was always that way and just doesn't show it much, or if she only got this strong because tou-chan died and she felt like she had to be stronger to beat Sasuke."

"So did she? Beat him?"

Boruto shrugged. "I know that's why she was training, but he never showed me that part."

"Maybe it's here," Sarada suggested. "It should be somewhere on your side."

With both of them searching the more recent shelves, it wasn't long before they found a memory that looked promising.

* * *

"You said I could trust you."

The pale man smiled and turned to face Hinata. "You can."

"What you asked me for... it didn't give me much reason to trust you."

"I can appreciate that, Hinata. But you are here, and you do have what I asked for. Surely you didn't come prepared, just to taunt me? It's a little far to go for a prank."

Hinata shook her head. "Can you at least give me any reason-?"

"I gave you my word, Hinata. So long as you keep yours, there is nothing to fear. And forgive me for saying so, but I cannot imagine there is much I can do to worsen your situation."

Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, Hinata held out the small jar.

He waited, giving her a chance to change her mind, and then slowly reached out and took it. "Thank you, Hinata. I will not betray your trust."

"See that you don't, Toneri."

The next time they saw each other, days later, Toneri was still adjusting to his new eyes, and the body of a young Hyuga boy found in an alley was attributed to another senseless attack by the Uchiha clones. They did not deny the claim, and in any case, they did take the body.

* * *

"I can't believe she did that," Sarada whispered.

"Don't judge her," Boruto said at once.

"I'm not," Sarada assured him. "I understand she was desperate. I'm not blaming her for that. Just... I can't imagine her killing a child from her clan. For that to be an option... it must be horrible, living this way."

Boruto was debating whether to tell Sarada that this wasn't the first time he'd seen Toneri. He wasn't sure it was a good idea. She would probably demand to know why he hadn't said anything. Because while she would never judge him for keeping secrets, she would be mad if he failed to share relevant information that could make the difference between a successful mission and a failed one.

But then he noticed something odd that stopped him.

The orb they had just viewed had turned white. None of the others had done that. And even as he looked, various orbs now had a large, white spot floating to the top of them. These were memories of Toneri, Boruto knew at once. These were the memories they needed to see.

There were an awful lot of them, and Boruto knew, suddenly and with disturbing clarity, what he would see, even before he touched the next orbs. There was no denying it then.

His mother was learning from Toneri, training her body and mind for the final battle against Sasuke. He was the one teaching her puppetry, and as she'd said, she had no talent for the fine control aspects, she could only channel her explosive fury at Sasuke into it. Toneri taught her sealing methods, so old and powerful that they predated Uzumaki techniques, put them completely to shame. He taught her graceful movements that even the oldest Hyuga could never have seen. He showed her ways to use chakra that no one currently living on the planet had ever imagined. He told her the true versions of stories that were only the stuff of legends and myths where she had come from.

And as she learned, Toneri would watch her with certain looks: of pride, amusement, desire, and longing so deep and dark and cold and lonely that it made Boruto certain that the only place Toneri could have developed such a need was growing up on the moon.

But always, Hinata rejected his advances. Her heart, she said, belonged to only one man, and now that he was gone, she would never give it to anyone else. And in the end, when the solitude grew to be too much, and Toneri was the only person in any world who understood how much she had lost, how hard she had worked to grow stronger still, and how even if she managed to defeat Sasuke that she would still never truly be happy again, it made a certain kind of awful sense.

The first time that Hinata woke up in Toneri's bed, with his arms curled protectively around her, she understood. He loved her. He loved her more than she had ever loved Naruto, because with Naruto, she'd had other options. If nothing had ever happened there, she was certain Kiba or Shino would have made the sacrifice for her. And really, for people like them, a Hyuga maiden was no sacrifice, but a hard-earned prize. But for Toneri, there had only ever been Hinata. Without her, he would die, alone and never having known warmth.

She did not love him. If not for Naruto, perhaps she might have loved Toneri, eventually. But the day that Naruto had died, her heart had broken beyond repair. Now she was nothing more than one of Toneri's puppets: slammed and shattered and slowly but surely breaking into pieces, totally hollow on the inside.

And the next thought brought an eerie smile to Hinata's lips, because it would haunt her for the rest of her days.

 _hollow on the inside, nothing but an empty shell, a vessel waiting to be filled, not with a demon but with a moon monster, who would only know coldness and blindness and power, and if she died he would crush the world for her, because she had left him nothing but a legacy of eternal hatred, so much like Sas-_

* * *

When the painful pulses in her eyes began, Toneri knew at once what the cause was, but remained silent. Hinata knew that asking him was pointless.

She also remembered that he had similar pains, before he awakened the Tenseigan.

But it made no sense. The Tenseigan required chakra from both the Otsutsuki and Hyuga clans. Beyond that, she had given Toneri the Byakugan, and his body had done the rest. But she had gone through no such process.

Unless.

She already was a Hyuga with the Byakugan, so theoretically, the only thing she would need is Otsutsuki chakra. And she would remember if Toneri had grafted a body part onto her. Just as she remembered the cautious, adoring way he always touched her skin. Just as she remembered that she had never bothered to do anything that would prevent pregnancy with him, figuring that she would die long before it became an issue.

There was no denying it when Hinata finally did awaken the Tenseigan: her Otsutsuki chakra had come, not directly from Toneri, but from the baby growing inside of her. She had to believe that Toneri had not meant for this to happen. Because it was, after some thought, the best weapon she had against Sasuke. Rather, it could lead her to one.

* * *

"I knew it."

Kurama slowly opened his eyes and trained his gaze on the human standing before him. He knew her, of course, or at least she was not entirely unfamiliar to him. That she now possessed a single Truth-Seeking Ball was news to him, however.

"How did you find me?" he asked, his voice rumbling through the underground cavern.

"The Tenseigan's Chakra Mode, combined with this," she said, gesturing to the ball. "There are only so many non-human chakra sources that contain traces of Otsutsuki chakra. I only had to look until I found the largest. That, and I knew you couldn't be gone like Sasuke claimed. I remember how your chakra felt. Naruto's corpse is still capable of things that should only be possible if some of your chakra is still sealed in it."

"And while you were playing detective, did you ever stop to think that I might kill you just for disturbing me?"

"Why would you do that, when I'm about to set you free? Or do you like being locked away in this prison Sasuke made for you?" She examined the seals affixed to the walls, and began dismantling them. No matter how good she thought she was, Kurama knew she'd be working for at least an hour before he was free.

Kurama snorted. "And you think you can stop the Uchiha?"

"Not without you."

"Why would I help you?"

"Because I'm the only one that's gotten this far. Because I want to avenge Naruto. Because I'm not looking to make another jinchuriki. And because even if you don't help me, you'll never get a better chance to destroy him."

* * *

Although Boruto and Sarada never found it, there was indeed an orb that contained a memory of Hinata's battle against Sasuke. They would never see how she turned her Truth-Seeking Ball into a skin-tight barrier. They would never see that barrier used as ninjutsu-resistant armor for Kurama. They would never see Toneri's failsafe weapon: a cannon on the moon that could vaporize any target on Earth, and had enough power to fire a constant stream that would outlast any defense that any Sharingan could provide. And they would never know that Hinata had told him to fire that weapon, whether she won or lost, just to be sure that no trace of Sasuke's evil remained.

They never saw any of this because Sarada began to scream, loudly and shrilly, and when Boruto saw what she saw, he almost screamed, too.

There was a boy in the chamber with him. They had not heard him enter, either because they had been too focused on the memories, or because he simply had no presence. He was standing close enough to Sarada to touch her, and was in fact lightly gripping her arm when Boruto finally noticed him.

The boy was, simultaneously, both of their worst nightmares.

He was blind. His empty eye sockets proved that much. He was also pale, thin, and wearing a shapeless robe that was faded, ancient, and yet still somehow in better condition than its owner.

But the most disturbing thing, and Sarada must have felt it, too, was the very existence of the boy himself. Even though they had almost nothing in common, and almost no one would ever think to connect them in such a way, it was immediately obvious to Boruto.

This boy was Hinata's son by Toneri. This tragic, ghostly _thing_ was this world's attempt to replace Boruto himself.

Boruto acted on pure instinct. He grabbed Sarada's arm, ripped it out of the boy's grasp, and shoved her behind him. But even as he did it, he understood that the boy was viewing them in much the same way that they were viewing him: disbelief, shock, and yes, even a bit of terror.

He hadn't touched Sarada to harm her. He'd only wanted to see if she was real. Because he couldn't believe what every sense other than sight must have been screaming at him.

Boruto saw the boy lick his dry lips. He was going to speak. And Boruto, for one, had no desire to hear it. He didn't want to hear his voice coming out of that mouth. And so even though he had no idea how he did it, he gave a mighty shove, not with his hands but with his mind, and the world shattered around them.

But even as Boruto and Sarada began to fall, and the shards of reality rained down around them, he could still feel the weight of the boy's gaze.

* * *

"I told you, I'm _fine_!"

Boruto grunted and slowly opened his eyes. He was in Sarada's room... on her bed. He immediately sat up, and found Sarada trying to convince her mother that she was okay. Given his current position, and what they'd last been doing, Boruto made an educated guess.

"Did we pass out?"

"Yes," Sakura sighed, firmly ignoring Sarada's glare.

"But we're fine!" Sarada insisted.

Sakura continued to ignore her. "Sasuke says you broke the genjutsu. Which couldn't have been easy."

Boruto shrugged. "I know I didn't want to be in it anymore, but-"

"He says you _both_ broke it, at the same time."

Boruto traded a stunned look with Sarada. "How did you-?" they both started to ask.

"I know how I got out, I've got the Sharingan," Sarada replied. "What do you have?"

"Way too much time spent in those things?" Boruto answered. "You saw maybe half of what I did. I wanted to get out twice as much as you did."

Sakura stared at him. "That's it?"

"That's not enough?" he countered.

Sakura looked suspicious. "I guess it could be, but still..."

"Mama, _please_!" Sarada cried. "We're both fine! You checked us and didn't find anything wrong, right?"

Boruto frowned. He didn't like what Sarada was doing, because he'd done it himself: saying she was fine just because she really didn't want to talk about what had just happened. Which was bad enough in itself, but brushing off a concerned mother? Boruto decided that maybe he'd done too much of that, too.

"Actually, could you check me again?" Boruto asked. "I don't feel... right."

Sarada shot him an annoyed look, but he ignored her. This would get Sakura off of her back, and Boruto actually did want to be sure there was nothing wrong with him. Given what he'd just seen, he wanted to be sure that he was very, very healthy, and stayed that way.

After a few minutes, Sakura reluctantly announced that she could find nothing wrong with him. This only annoyed Sarada more, and Boruto bowing to Sakura and thanking her did nothing to improve Sarada's mood. It also earned him a funny look from Sakura, because a polite Boruto was clearly not to be trusted, so Boruto and Sarada quickly left the room before she decided to check him again.

"Do you think we should-?" Boruto started to ask.

"I'm _not_ talking about it," Sarada said firmly.

"Uh, okay." Boruto paused, then sighed. "Well, there is something else you should know. Completely unrelated, and very important."

Sarada stared at him warily. "What?"

Boruto tried to think of a way to say "your crazy aunt tried to kill me" nicely, couldn't manage it, and simply shook his head. "It's easier to show you. I need you to come to Tsu-baa's with me."

* * *

Tsunade's house was still standing and showed no obvious signs of chain damage from the outside, so Boruto assumed that either Karin had no problems with Tsunade, or Tsunade when angry was much scarier than even he had known. There were, however, a few visible ninja watching the house, and Boruto knew they were separate from Tsunade's usual security team, because those ones didn't let themselves be seen unless they were needed. In any case, no one tried to prevent Boruto and Sarada from approaching the front door, so the ninja must have already heard back from Naruto and Kakashi.

Tsunade yelled for them to come in before Boruto could knock. While he felt she was entitled to be lazy due to her age, he did think that was extremely irresponsible, they could have been anyone barging in. Not that many were insane enough to barge in on Tsunade, but still. And not that Boruto realized at the time that Tsunade was hosting a houseguest that had been able to sense their approach long before they even saw the house.

They found Tsunade drinking tea in her kitchen. At least, Boruto hoped it was tea. She was supposed to be drinking less sake these days, or really none at all. But considering she had saved his life earlier that day, he wasn't about to bug her over it.

There was no sign of Karin, which was going to make this awkward.

"Hello, Tsunade-sama," Sarada greeted, offering a polite bow.

Tsunade nodded. "Good to see you, Sarada-chan. Did Boruto explain why you're here?"

Sarada glanced at him. "No."

Boruto scowled. "Well, since the reason doesn't seem to be in sight, maybe it's a good thing I didn't!"

Tsunade sighed. "Tell her, brat. The reason won't come out until you do. And this has been dragged out long enough."

Boruto turned to face Sarada. "I sent Karin a message last night."

Sarada blinked. "Okay?"

"She responded this morning."

"Okay...?"

"In person."

"She... WHAT?!" Sarada cried.

"That was pretty much my reaction." Actually, his reaction had been closer to gagging and gasping for air, since he was being strangled at the time, but-

"Sarada-chan," said a soft voice from the doorway behind Tsunade.

Sarada spun around and gaped at the sight of Karin, standing there nervously. Boruto was relieved to see that Karin appeared to have showered, changed her clothes, and brushed her hair since he'd last seen her. She was also holding a small box with Sarada's name printed on it.

Sarada didn't move.

"I-I wasn't sure if..." Karin said, then stopped, blushing. "I mean, I wanted to see you, but it wasn't..." She shook her head. "This isn't exactly how I meant to..." Karin shut her eyes and shook her head harder, blinking away tears. "I really just needed to tell-" She stopped again, and said, softly but firmly enough where everyone in the room heard it, despite Karin's intent being the opposite, "Dammit."

Sarada finally moved. She walked over to Karin, stared up at her, slowly reached out and squeezed her hand once, then let go. She immediately activated her Sharingan, circled Karin several times, and squeezed Karin's hand again.

"You're really real," Sarada said at last.

"Yes?" Karin whispered.

Sarada narrowed her eyes. "Are you asking or telling?"

"Telling," Karin said at once, more firmly.

Sarada's face went blank. "You're really real."

"Yes."

Sarada burst into tears and buried her face in her hands.

"Wha... no!" Karin gasped. She began hopping nervously around Sarada, obviously wanting to comfort her, but apparently afraid to touch her without permission. "Sarada-chan, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please please _please_ don't cry! I'll leave, if you don't want me-"

"NO!" Sarada immediately launched herself at Karin, wrapping her arms around the woman's neck and locking her legs around Karin's waist, forcing her to drop the box and hold onto Sarada. "You're not going ANYWHERE!"

"S-Sarada-chan?" Karin whispered uncertainly as Sarada glared at her up close.

"W-We're going to talk," Sarada murmured. "Y-You're going to tell me things. A-And no more stupid letters, because you're here now, and there's no reason to go back to that, and YOU ARE NOT LEAVING, EVER!"

Karin gaped at her. "I... but-"

"EVER!" Sarada repeated, giving her a little shake. "Say it!"

"Sarada-chan, I-"

"NO! YOU SAY IT RIGHT NOW!"

In response to the obvious need and desperation in Sarada's voice, Karin's stunned expression crumbled, and she began crying freely. "I-I love you, too, Sarada-chan."

"Shut up!" Sarada sobbed, grabbing Karin's face. "You shut up until you say it!"

Karin laughed softly and gently kissed Sarada's forehead.

"Say it," Sarada whimpered, burying her face in Karin's neck. "Please?"

"Ever," Karin agreed at last, closing her eyes and holding Sarada tightly, gently stroking her hair. "I won't leave you, Sarada-chan. I promise."

Boruto didn't know if it was a lie. But despite how much he didn't like Karin, for Sarada's sake, he really hoped it wasn't a lie. It wasn't right, to need someone that much. And Karin needed to fix whatever her appearance had broken in Sarada.

* * *

 **Concluded in Chapter 5: Inheritors**

Karin isn't trying to teach Boruto, but he learns something from her, anyway.

* * *

 **Endnotes:**

I've decided Tsunade would be Boruto's godmother. Mostly for the simple reason that it would require her to be around him at some point, which so far has not been the case at all. Jiraiya wasn't much of a godfather until later on, but assuming that Tsunade is still in the village somewhere (though she could easily be traveling the world and enjoying her retirement), that shouldn't be the case with her. I assume that Shizune's newfound Tsunade-free life means that Tsunade either has another attendant, or is looking after herself. What I will not assume is that Tsunade is dead. But alive or dead, for Boruto to have gone on for this long without a significant mention for her is almost appalling. I know Boruto doesn't care much about Hokages, but that shouldn't apply to everyone else.

I don't actually believe Hinata could get the Tenseigan this way, but... well, I didn't really want her to have a face sticking out of a random part of her body, either. So this way seemed less... freaky?

Oddly enough, Sarada does not appear to have developed any longlasting issues from Sasuke being absent from her life, since his return. But assuming she had? I think she would harbor a fear of important people vanishing on her, or at least not being around when she wanted them. And she wouldn't show it all of the time. But if she had a big fight with someone and they stormed off, her mind might immediately jump to the possibility of them walking out of her life for good, even if they just went somewhere to cool off for a few hours.

Boruto's fandom has stumped me. Instead of people asking questions like "Where is Tsunade?", all anyone seems to be talking about lately is how **Moegi has Wood Style**. Which is amazing only in the sense that **she really only has it in the sense that it's stated in her profile**. I don't want you to think that I hate Moegi. She was a cute girl with a weird hairstyle that grew into a cute woman with a weird hairstyle. But you know what's not required to be a cute woman with a weird hairstyle that's appeared in roughly one panel in Boruto? Wood Style. And you know what pretty much is required of anyone who has Wood Style? Appearing in more than one panel. So I don't see this working out too well. At least, not for anyone who thinks they're actually going to see Moegi using a whole lot of Wood Style. Or even for anyone who thinks they're actually going to see Moegi a whole lot, period. That's kinda her thing: not appearing a whole lot. She'd tell you that herself, except I'm sure she's busy polishing her first place trophy for Ninja Vanish Mastery that she inherited from Tenten. Except replace Ninja with Character.

And to the person who keeps telling me to commit suicide any time I have Karin and Sarada in the same story? Uh, no. I wouldn't be writing if it were that easy to get rid of me. And if I did, you'd have to find someone else to stalk. So I'm really doing you a favor. You're welcome. And I don't even support SasuKarin. Which you might realize if you actually bothered to read. I can see how you might be fooled, but anyone who thinks that isn't paying close enough attention. And also probably isn't reading endnotes, so I'm surely wasting my time mentioning any of this.


	5. Solutions

Notes: I never know when inspiration will hit. Well, it just did. Which means two things: this is no longer the final chapter, and the chapter title I thought I would use for this chapter now belongs to the next chapter. But I am almost positive that the 7th chapter will be the last one. Or at least that's the plan now.

* * *

 **A Brief History As Hokage**

 **A Naruto Fanfic by**

 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**  
 **Chapter 5: Solutions**

* * *

A whole week passed before Boruto saw Sasuke again.

In that time, Karin certainly gave the appearance of going nowhere anytime soon. It was never stated out loud by anyone Boruto asked, but Karin had apparently become Tsunade's next attendant. If nothing else, Karin was living with Tsunade and shadowed her as she moved through the village each day.

Boruto had thought Karin would live with the Uchiha, but Sarada claimed that would be too complicated, even for them. Still, Tsunade and Karin were regular dinner guests, and if Sasuke had any objections, he was wisely keeping them to himself.

There was something of an awkward debate over Akane. If Karin was truly going to stay in the village, there was really no reason she couldn't be Akane's summoner instead, unless she flat out didn't want to. Akane had helped Karin and Sarada stay in touch, so Boruto felt it was only right that she be with them. The only issue was that Karin didn't want to accept anything from Boruto, who finally got so annoyed that he started a rumor that Karin couldn't summon at all because her chakra coils were too small. Which was an insult to any seasoned ninja, but practically fighting words for an Uzumaki. And it wasn't like Karin could get any more murderous around him than she already was. In the end, she did take Akane, if only out of spite. And Sarada did thank him for it, with a quick hug, although she immediately threatened to stab him in the arm if he ever told anyone she had. Boruto had already reluctantly accepted that Karin was rapidly rubbing off on Sarada, particularly the threats to Boruto's person, and there was really no stopping it.

Boruto had given a great deal of thought to Sasuke's test. But he could not single out a concrete lesson anywhere in it. The overwhelming impression, if he were being completely honest? Was that Sasuke used to be a major dick. Which, now that he truly thought about it, surely could have been learned without the test. There had to be several people that had been Sasuke's former classmates who could have said as much. Though, Boruto didn't know who most of them were, beyond his parents, Sakura, and Inojin's mother. And he only knew that much because the latter still managed to work Sasuke into conversations frequently.

So the lesson could not be how bad Sasuke used to be, or could be. Or could it? Boruto hadn't had any idea of how bad Sasuke could be, and now he did. There was no denying that had been a major lesson. In fact, if Sasuke's goal had been to tarnish his reputation in Boruto's eyes, mission accomplished. But what was the purpose of that? It would only strain their relationship, and already had.

There was also Sarada to consider. Sasuke must have included her in the final session for a reason. Boruto had to admit that he never would have known about Karin at all without this test. And it was his letter that triggered her return to the village. It was possible that Sasuke had known about Akane and her tenuous situation, but surely he could not have predicted how Boruto would respond to each session so accurately.

Surely Boruto's own mother had to be connected to the lesson. Her role had been too large for her not to be. But again, realizing how strong she was, was something he shouldn't have needed the test for. Except that he had needed it, because despite living with her all of his life, Boruto had never known the type of strength she was truly capable of.

And that was it, wasn't it? It had to be! Everything Boruto had learned as a result of the test, could also have been found out without the test. It only would have required some real effort on his part. Hell, Sasuke could have just told him everything without the genjutsu, if he'd felt like it. But it wasn't like the people who had informed Boruto were hard to find, they had always been around. He had just never thought to ask them these things. Or, if he had thought to, he'd decided instead to figure things out on his own. But there were some things that he couldn't know, because he had only been alive for so long, and seen so little by comparison.

He wasn't old, but they were, and they were still around, and he needed to take advantage of the fact that they were. Old and still around, that is. Though he knew better than to actually phrase it that way aloud.

* * *

Instead of the training field, Sasuke and Boruto met at Tsunade's house. Boruto was glad for the change of scenery, but less glad that Sarada tagged along to visit Karin. Sasuke and Boruto went up to the roof, after firm promises that the lesson would only consist of a lecture. Boruto was still wary, since Karin had made no such promise, and he was constantly on the the lookout for glowing chains.

Sasuke offered no explanation for the delay, and Boruto hadn't really expected one.

"So. The test. You were supposed to figure out why I gave you this test, what you were supposed to learn, and what you should do with that knowledge." Sasuke paused and stared at Boruto. "What is your response?"

Boruto made a show of creating two Shadow Clones, and then got in a huddle with them for several moments, whispering loudly and occasionally shooting glances at Sasuke.

Sasuke's hand twitched toward his sword.

"HA! Your test was so easy!" Boruto bragged while his clones nodded their agreement.

"That might be more believable if you had actually bothered to answer-"

"I got your answers right here!" Boruto stuck a finger in Sasuke's face. "The answer to all three is the same! You wanted me to rely on adults more!"

Sasuke stared at him. "And how did you arrive at that answer?"

"I told you, it was easy!"

"This would be one of those times where you're required to show your work."

Boruto frowned. "I went to kaa-chan for help, but it wasn't enough. Then I tried Kakashi, but he would only tell me so much." He hesitated, not wanting to involve Sarada, but seeing no way around it. "Then Sarada-"

"You consider Sarada to be an adult?" Sasuke interrupted, in a tone that suggested, quite strongly, that he knew that 'adult' meant 'old person' in Boruto's view.

"Uh, not really. Despite what she might say."

"Your answer needs some revision, then." Seeing Boruto's frustration, Sasuke added, "But that wasn't a bad place to start. You do need to rely on adults more. Particularly those who are available and offering to help you. I notice you didn't mention asking your father for help."

"I guess he sorta helped," Boruto admitted, recalling their conversation about Akane.

"Did you ask him for help?" Sasuke pressed. "Or did he come to you?"

"You obviously already know the answer, so why are you asking?"

"Because you have a tendency to avoid the obvious when it involves him. There is no question that your father is a busy man. But there is also no question that no one in this village knows me better than he does. If there is only one person who is able to offer the most valuable insight about this test, it is him. Yet you never even attempted to ask him."

"Well, it's not like anyone else suggested it, either!"

Sasuke sighed. "Either because it was an obvious solution, or because they knew exactly how you would react, no doubt." He shook his head. "You saw him die in front of you. You saw what that loss did to your mother. Are you saying that you still can't bring yourself to value his existence?"

"I do value him!" Boruto snapped. "But I refuse to be some spoiled brat that always depends on his daddy!"

"So you want to be a spoiled brat who never does?" Sasuke countered. "There's one problem with that, Boruto. A great deal of this test was about evaluating your ability to gather information from available sources. Regardless of how you feel about him, asking your father for help was the best option. At the very least, he either would have sent you to someone willing to provide you with relevant information, or told you precisely why he didn't want you to have that information."

Boruto snorted loudly. "Because it would change the way I look at you? Well, too late for that."

"Perception is everything, Boruto. A few days ago, you saw me as your father's rival, someone to look up to. Yet you knew nothing substantial about my past. You didn't even know that I nearly killed your father multiple times. You weren't supposed to know. But ignorance cannot remain an excuse, if you would call yourself a shinobi. And especially not if you're going to remain my student."

"So you did this to open my eyes, is that it?"

"For much of my life, I believed that my beloved older brother had massacred my clan, and left me alive solely so that he could extend my suffering. But the truth was that he was acting on orders, and that he spared me because he could not bring himself to kill me. Which either makes him one of the worst traitors in the village's history, or one of its greatest martyrs. I made many mistakes in my life, but most of them were a result of the truth being hidden from me for far too long. I won't allow that to be the case with you. Having too much information can be a bad thing. But for someone in your position, who information is actively kept from, you should be learning how to gather as much as you possibly can. Because if you simply sit back and trust that you can handle life, without making any effort to investigate it? How is that any different from trusting that things will go right, in a village run by your father? How is that any different from relying on his power to protect you?"

"So you made a genjutsu where tou-chan was dead, just to force me to think on my own?" Boruto asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "You only think that because you failed to ask the right person the right questions. If you had gone to your father, you would know that the genjutsu is not simply a scenario I made up."

"I get that it's based on real events, but-"

"It's based on the events that immediately followed the Fourth Great Ninja War. Your father and I ended that war, together with Sakura and Kakashi. Immediately after we did, I declared my intention to erase the old shinobi system. Your father tried to stop me, of course, and it became my goal to kill him. What I showed you that first day was how the confrontation between us would have ended, if I had won. It's an alternate, false ending to a very real fight." Sasuke gestured to his empty sleeve. "It's the fight that cost us both an arm, and nearly our lives. Almost the only way you would ever be told that is if you asked someone who was there. And it was clear, from day one, that your father was. I didn't give you any help, because I'd already given you the only hint you should have needed."

Boruto grimaced and looked away. "So I failed the test?"

"Not if you still found another way to learn what I'm trying to teach you. And I think there's a chance that you did." Sasuke paused, and then smirked. "You don't like Karin much, do you?"

"I don't like her at all," Boruto stated plainly.

"Do you know why she doesn't trust you?"

"She thinks I'm going to hurt Sarada."

"Why does she think that?"

"Because she's nuts!"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm serious, Boruto. She had never met you. She should have had no reason to doubt your character to that degree. So why did she?"

Boruto glared at him. "I don't know! Did tou-chan hurt her or something?"

"They barely even know each other. And if he did hurt her at all, then she's been hurt far, far worse by others who were closer to her."

Something in Sasuke's tone made Boruto pause. "It was you, wasn't it? You hurt her. But what does that have to do with me?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. "I am not what most people would consider... good with emotions. Students often unintentionally pick up habits from their teachers. Karin knew you were my student and Sarada's teammate. But she had no idea how close you two were, until she found out that you became Akane's summoner. Based on her personal experience with me, she thought it likely that you would break Sarada's heart. It's not necessarily a reasonable fear, but it also isn't an unreasonable one."

"But that's stupid! Sarada is your daughter! Why would she think that you would let me hurt Sarada that way?"

Sasuke frowned. "I admit that my parenting could use some work. If you had hurt Sarada before you became my student, I wouldn't have known about it until it was far too late to do anything about it. So Karin has reason to doubt me in that area. She has been in contact with Sarada more than I have until recently."

"And you're okay with Karin misjudging you that way?" Boruto demanded.

"I don't consider it misjudging when her concerns are valid. Sarada forgave me, but she still harbors an intense fear of being abandoned because of my extended absence early on in her life. If Karin can help minimize or eliminate that fear, I don't mind Sarada having another parental figure. I assumed that was why you did your part in helping them meet in person. Or did I give you too much credit?"

Boruto shook his head. "That wasn't really why. I just knew Karin was really important to Sarada. And I knew Sarada would never forgive me if I got Karin arrested, or if Karin left because of me."

Sasuke sighed. "You're halfway to the lesson I want you to learn, even if you can't see that yet. That's better than where you were when we started. And it is my duty to teach you. You were right, by the way. The answer to all three questions is the same. You just didn't quite have the right answer. Think it over some more on your own."

* * *

Boruto was slumped over Tsunade's kitchen table when Karin walked in, scowled, and started to turn back.

"Sarada's my friend, you know," Boruto pointed out. "I'm not going to hurt her. And the way I see it, she's better off trusting the son of a Hokage than she is someone who works for Orochimaru. So how about you try judging me after you actually have some moral high ground to stand on?"

"Wow, you're stupid," Karin murmured.

"HEY!" Boruto shouted angrily as he sat up.

"Fine, you're not stupid," Karin sighed. "But you have the wrong idea about a lot of things. First off, the list of people who learned from Orochimaru starts behind your sensei Sasuke, who was his favorite student. Try to remember that when he starts teaching you cool moves that nobody else here knows. And working for Orochimaru isn't all bad. The medical knowledge and equipment that I used to make sure Sarada was born safely? Guess who supplied that, smart guy? You don't have to like Orochimaru, most people don't. But he's been more useful to Sarada without even meeting her than you ever were while standing right beside her. And I don't need moral high ground to judge you. I love Sarada more than you ever could, and that means I'll protect her, and if you don't get that, then I don't really care. I also don't care who your father is, or where you come from, or who you think you are. You aren't worthy of Sarada, and even if you were, I'd be just as much in your face because that's my right."

Boruto was about to remind her, again, that he had no interest in Sarada that way, but decided to try something else instead. "Isn't it up to Sarada to decide if I'm worthy of her?"

Karin snorted. "Come back and try to tell me that after the first time you see a boy holding Himawari's hand."

His eyes narrowed. "So you're planning to stick around that long?"

"Yeah, I am. So if you were hoping I wouldn't, that's just too damn bad for you."

"What did I ever do to make you think that Sarada couldn't trust me? I don't see you giving Mitsuki a hard time."

Karin laughed. "Are you kidding? I used to babysit Mitsuki. Him, I trust."

Boruto was shocked. "What?! He never said-!"

"And you never asked, since you just found out about me, right?"

"But... yeah, okay," Boruto muttered. "But I stand by what I said before. Sarada isn't stupid. You acting like she isn't smart enough to pick her friends well is insulting, to her and to me. I'll never forgive you if you don't apologize to her for that. I don't care if you don't like me. But you've got no right to say you love Sarada if you can't believe in her. For every time that she's had no reason to believe in me, but she still chose to trust me... I'll repay that now! I won't let anyone doubt her judgment!"

Karin stared at him for a long moment. "You know... maybe I was wrong about you," she said reluctantly. "You'll still never be Sarada's boyfriend, but... you might be acceptable as her friend. Just for now. But I'll still be watching you."

Boruto barely heard her. Something about the entire conversation had shifted an idea in his head, and now it... no, everything he'd been puzzling over... it all made sense.

* * *

"Everything isn't what it seems!" Boruto blurted out the next time he saw Sasuke.

This was somewhat awkward, as Sasuke had just gotten out of the shower, was half-dressed, and Boruto had just burst into his bedroom.

But even so, Sasuke nodded calmly. "Not the phrasing I would have used, but... yes. You finally see."

Boruto laughed. "Wow, but what a roundabout way to teach that! Orochimaru must be some kind of sensei!"

Sasuke's face went blank.

"Or not?" Boruto murmured, sensing he had read the mood wrong.

"You learned the lesson," Sasuke said, firmly. "Let's leave it there for now."

"But why? He taught Karin, and she's the one who helped me figure it out, believe it or not. She wasn't trying to, really, but-"

"That's... interesting," Sasuke said. "She still hates you, then?"

"I think so. But I don't think it has anything to do with me being your student. I'm starting to think that part of it is that she's just jealous that I got to hang out with Sarada all this time, and she didn't."

"What makes you think that?"

Boruto grinned. "Because she _didn't_ say it. And she never would."

* * *

There had been some awkwardness, but it was still rather amazing how easily Karin had managed to insert herself physically into Sarada's life. Sarada had never really felt neglected by her mother, since Sakura went out of her way to make sure that wasn't the case. But Sarada now recognized that her parents were busy people, and that there was plenty of space for someone to help out.

Karin was busy, too, as Tsunade's attendant. But she still made plenty of time for Sarada. She would show up randomly to accompany Sarada wherever she was going, or watch her train and offer advice. And Karin either had a key or was a master lockpick, for how often she simply appeared in Sarada's home, most typically when neither of her parents was around.

There was no denying it: Karin had the time and desire to devote to Sarada. And Sarada, much as she didn't like to be reminded of it? She easily had space in her life for another parental figure. Karin sometimes tried to pass herself off as a big sister, but Sarada just couldn't see her that way. Or rather, Karin didn't feel that way to Sarada. Whenever Karin held her hand, or hugged her, or kissed her, there was only one thought in Sarada's head. "This is what it's like to have two mothers. And it's not bad."

Sarada's parents were in no way threatened by Karin's presence. Sakura especially seemed to welcome the help. It was rapidly becoming clear that part of the reason Karin was able to predict Sarada's schedule so precisely was because Sakura had shared it with her. For his part, Sasuke... tolerated Karin. He said very little to her, and tended to only speak up if he felt she was coddling Sarada too much, or being too loud, or being annoying in some other way. But he was not cruel to her, and Karin did not take his criticisms to heart. Rather, she blushed slightly each time he even looked at her. Sasuke could say a great deal with a stare, so this was not too surprising.

Karin had long since confessed the complicated nature of her relationship with Sasuke in her letters to Sarada. Only some of it made sense to Sarada. But in the end, only one thing mattered: Sakura had trusted Karin to deliver Sarada, so whatever else was between them was unimportant. And they were friendly with each other, in a similar yet entirely different way than Sakura was with Ino.

And if that meant that Sakura was fine with Karin saying goodnight to Sarada, like she was now, then that was okay with Sarada.

"You know, you don't have to tuck me in all the time," Sarada murmured, her face red.

"I don't have to do a lot of things," Karin noted as she continued to brush Sarada's hair.

Sarada gently squeezed Karin's hand. "Karin? I'm not a baby anymore."

Karin paused. "I can see that, with my eyes. But when I look at you, I still remember that beautiful baby girl that will always be in my heart. And it's... hard for me to accept that you aren't her anymore."

"Can you try? For me? Please?"

"Sarada-chan... it's just-"

"I don't want to resent you. I don't want any reason to feel that way. Please try."

"But-"

"I'll make a deal with you," Sarada interrupted, clearly not about to give up. "You can treat me like your daughter, if you want. Just not like your baby. Okay?"

Karin gaped at her, unable to find any words for several seconds. Finally, she swallowed hard and nodded.

"And it would be nice if you could at least try not to look like you want to spit every time Boruto shows up."

Karin's face hardened. "He-"

"I know I complained about him in my letters. But I know I said good things, too. So why?"

Karin's face fell. "Because he reminded me. That you were growing up without me. That he was right beside you, where I should have been. And he's a dumb blond, so there was no way he was treating you the way you deserve to be treated."

"So... he didn't really do anything wrong? You're just jealous?" Sarada's lips twitched, and she did her best not to smile.

"I-I'm not jealous of him!" Karin said stubbornly.

"Okay," Sarada agreed, wrapping her arms around Karin. "You're not jealous. And you shouldn't be. Boruto is no threat to your place in my life. And you're no threat to his."

"I can be a threat to him," Karin muttered viciously.

"No, Karin," Sarada said firmly, poking her in the stomach. "Don't make me resent you."

"Okay, okay! I'll... try. For you."

"Thank you."

"But if I have to be nice to him, you have to do something for me."

"What?" Sarada asked warily.

"Nothing hard," Karin promised. "I just need you to talk to Sasuke about this idea I had..."

* * *

"Naruto, they said you wanted-" Kakashi began as he walked into the Hokage's office, only to pause as he saw Sakura and Sasuke already seated in front of Naruto's desk. "Oh ho," he said, allowing amusement to fill his tone. "So it's a team reunion, is it? If you had told me that-"

"You would have been _three hours_ late instead of just the twenty minutes you were?" Sakura said mildly. "And even that's only because we lied about the actual meeting time."

Kakashi just beamed at her, which only annoyed Sakura further.

"Come on in and have a seat, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, producing a new bottle of sake from his desk drawer. "I've been saving this-"

"You swiped it from Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said accusingly. "I know for a fact that there was nothing left of her stash when she left office, she made me help her carry it."

Naruto pretended to look insulted. "I'll have you know I didn't swipe it." After a pause, he added, "I delegated that task to Shizune nee-chan, and she was happy to do it. I even gave her an empty sake bottle filled with tea to replace it with, so provided baa-chan only drinks the tea she's supposed to, and never tries to sneak any sake, she'll never find out."

"Really, Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "You have nothing better to do than prank an old woman? Like run a village?"

"We're getting off-topic, we're supposed to be celebrating," Naruto insisted, producing a tray with four cups on it.

"Celebrating what, exactly?" Kakashi asked.

"We've all finally graduated!" Naruto boasted.

"We... what?" Sakura asked blankly.

"Oh, I don't mean in the way you're thinking, Sakura-chan. We've all finally surpassed our sensei and elevated ourselves to legendary status!"

"We did that years ago," Sakura insisted.

"Nope! Sasuke only did it just now."

Sasuke was weary enough already of Naruto's logic, if it could even be called that, that he didn't even bother to protest.

"So to honor that feat, I've prepared new nicknames for us all!" Naruto continued happily.

"You... what?" Sakura asked again.

"Kakashi-sensei, in honor of his longstanding loyalty to a certain ideal, will now be known as Ero Kage," Naruto announced.

"Oi," Kakashi protested, somewhat, until Naruto poured him some sake.

"Serves you right for always reading those books in publ-" Sakura began to say.

"Sakura-chan, for her tireless devotion to the betterment of medical treatment for kids, will now affectionately be called Sakura baa-chan."

"You are so dead, Naruto," Sakura whispered as Naruto filled her cup.

"And Sasuke, because he just now actually incorporated 'Look underneath the underneath' into a lesson, will be known as Sasu-sensei."

This earned some looks at Sasuke, which he tried to ignore. It didn't work. Naruto beamed as he filled Sasuke's cup.

"Did you really?" Sakura asked, unable to stop smiling.

Sasuke looked away. "Hn."

"And what's your new nickname, Naruto?" Kakashi asked. The sake was good, but not to the point where he would overlook something like that.

Naruto grinned and filled his own cup. "Awesome Kage, of course."

"I think Ramen Kage suits you better," Sakura argued.

"No, that suits Hinata better than him," Sasuke said.

Kakashi patted Naruto's shoulder sympathetically. "Would you like a water jutsu for that burn?"

Naruto glared at Sasuke while Sakura laughed.

* * *

"Hey, guys!" Boruto shouted as he landed in the training field. "I'm back!"

Mitsuki looked pleased, but Sarada rolled her eyes. "You're two minutes late," she pointed out.

Boruto was not sure what to make of Sarada's reaction to the genjutsu. She still refused to talk about it, at least with him. And it wasn't so much that Boruto felt the need to discuss it. He just wasn't used to Sarada clamming up about shared experiences. Despite Sasuke's assurance that Sarada was tough, Boruto wondered if Kakashi had been more right about needing to be sensitive to her. Though if she didn't want to talk, Boruto had no idea what to do, other than be there, not talking, until or unless she changed her mind. But that was going to involve taking some snide comments without complaint.

It would have been nice if she could always be in a good mood, like Mitsuki seemed to be, but it would probably be creepy to have two such people on the same team.

"So what are we doing today? Either of you know?" Boruto asked.

"Sensei said it would be new and exciting," Mitsuki offered.

"He probably only said that so we'd look forward to it, Mitsuki," Sarada responded. "If he said it was the same old thing we always did, would you be excited?"

Mitsuki gave her a curious glance. "Yes, I would. I am always excited to spend time with my precious friends."

Boruto was not surprised to see Sarada blush slightly. Typically, the only people who referred to Sarada as "precious" were her mother and Karin. And Naruto, but he said that about all of the kids, so he was weird that way. In a Hokage sort of way. But the point was, Sarada was only used to certain people talking about her that way, to her face. And while Mitsuki was never shy about his feelings, and they should have been used to that by now, somehow this time was different.

"Oh," Sarada said softly, sounding awkward and apologetic. "Sorry, Mitsuki."

He shook his head. "I did not require an apology for that, Sarada. No offense was taken, so I assume none was meant."

"Anyway, even if it's not exciting, it probably is something new," Boruto reasoned. "I think we can depend on Sensei at least that much."

Boruto yelped as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. "I'm choosing to take that as a compliment," Konohamaru said from behind him, but through a smile that said the exact opposite.

* * *

Karin could not help the blush in her cheeks or the bounce in her step as she landed lightly on the tree branch and beamed up at Sasuke. He was on a slightly higher branch, and had purposely stretched out so that he didn't have to share it. The old Karin would have said he was playing hard to get. The current Karin accepted that he was a one-woman man, and that woman was Sakura.

And yet, if the sappy smile on Karin's face might have hinted at the possibility of an overly aggressive, passionate inner voice in her head, shouting that Sasuke was so cute when he was shy? Well, it was just a possibility, and had no basis in fact.

What was a fact was that Karin was so distracted by staring at Sasuke, that she didn't notice the presence of a third person, until they landed right behind her.

"Hi, Karin."

Karin blinked and barely suppressed the urge to recoil in shock. "Huh?! Oh, hi, Sakura!" she blurted out a bit too loudly to be natural.

Sakura blinked. "Yeah... um, are you okay? You're sweating a lot."

"N-No, I'm not!" Karin shouted, despite the numerous sweatdrops decorating her face.

Sakura was not sure what to say to that obvious lie, so she moved on. "I'm glad you're here. I want-"

"I'm supposed to be here! It's not suspicious at all!" Karin insisted.

Sakura stared at her. "Karin, I know that. Konohamaru mentioned that he was involving all three of us in this."

"Y-Yeah, so it's not suspicious that I'm here with Sasuke!" Karin murmured weakly.

"You aren't 'with' me, we came separately," Sasuke said, then looked upset with himself for even entering the conversation at all.

Karin still looked to be close to having a panic attack, however, so Sakura stepped forward and carefully embraced her, which caused Karin to freeze, her oncoming panic giving way to shock and confusion.

"Are you calmer now?" Sakura asked softly, gently rubbing Karin's back.

"I... yeah," Karin whispered uncertainly, making no move to return the hug.

"Then maybe I should say this, in case it wasn't clear already." Sakura drew back slowly and looked into Karin's eyes. "I trust you, Karin. And not just with Sarada."

"Why?" Karin asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Because you've proven yourself to me. And despite all the reasons I have to doubt you, that proof is stronger. And even if I couldn't trust you to behave around my husband, I know I can trust that you would never do anything to hurt my daughter. That's why I'm glad that you're here. You make Sarada happy. I never thanked you for that, and I want to. So: thank you, Karin. You're a true friend."

"E-Even if you say that, it won't make me happy!" Karin grumbled, the renewed blush in her cheeks saying different.

Smiling, Sakura patted Karin's shoulder. "Okay. Whatever you say."

* * *

"Today, I'm going to take you all out of your comfort zones," Konohamaru announced, glancing at each of his three genin. "This training will target areas where you all need considerable improvement."

Alarm bells went off in Boruto's head, but he did his best not to show it.

"So I've invited some people you're all familiar with to help out," Konohamaru continued. "We will guide you through individual training sessions customized especially for you. Mitsuki, you'll be with me. You seem to have taken to your role as a supporting player with ease, but I think it's time you learned how to operate when you are the one filling the leadership role. Being a team player is fine, but being a team leader is much more difficult, and you may be called upon to be just that, once you're a chunin."

"I am eager to begin, Sensei," Mitsuki said with his usual smile.

"Sarada, I can't really help you much where your Sharingan is concerned. So I'll leave that up to an expert."

Sarada's face lit up as Sasuke appeared next to Konohamaru. "Papa!" she cried excitedly, running up to him. "You're really going to train me now?"

Sasuke nodded. "You have potential, I've seen that much already. But I'm sure you know already, there's more to it than just copying jutsu."

Konohamaru looked at Boruto. "You're a bit of different case, Boruto. You like to fight using your clones, and I would be the absolute last person to say that you shouldn't. But there will be opponents who clones just aren't as effective against. For example, someone who can eliminate several targets all at once, or someone who can mask their presence well enough that your clones don't know where to look."

"Or both," Karin giggled in Boruto's ear as her chains wrapped tightly around him, binding everything except his head.

"Wah! What are you doing here?!" Boruto shouted, struggling uselessly.

"I just said, she's going to be training you," Konohamaru sighed, shaking his head. "If you're that bad at paying attention, it's no wonder she was able to catch you so easily."

"I didn't know I was supposed to be running!" Boruto snapped.

"And in case anyone gets hurt, a volunteer from the hospital has graciously taken time out of her busy schedule to be our healer for the day," Konohamaru added, gesturing to Sakura as she walked up.

"M-Mama?" Sarada asked in surprise. "You're here, too?"

"Don't sound too disappointed," Sakura said, pouting.

"N-No, I didn't mean it that way!" Sarada responded. "I'm happy to see you, I just didn't expect you."

"Clearly. And you were much more excited by your father being here."

Sarada blushed. "That's... wait, you're teasing me, aren't you?"

"Maybe just a little. But I wouldn't complain if you ran up to me with a big smile, either."

Mitsuki immediately did just that, and after an awkward pause, Sakura laughed and patted his head fondly.

"So, you've all got your trainers, and you know what you'll be working on," Konohamaru said. "Let's get to work, people!"

"Hey, wait! You're not really leaving me with her?!" Boruto demanded, trying to lean away from Karin as she continued to giggle and leer at him in a disturbing manner.

Konohamaru looked unconcerned. "If you have a problem with her, then try to run away from her. That should be equally good training. And if the attempt doesn't go so well, that's what Sakura-san is here for."

Boruto squirmed. "I'm not complaining about the healer, but I'd really like to not need her, thanks!"

"Then you better not mess up, because I'm thinking you'll need lots and lots of healing before I'm done with you," Karin hissed in his ear.

Much to Boruto's dismay, she was exactly right.

* * *

Although Karin didn't like to admit it, her initial impression of Boruto had been way off of the mark. First and foremost, he either had no romantic interest in Sarada, or was too immature to be thinking of girls that way. Which did not mean that he would never be interested in Sarada, only that when he was, he likely wouldn't even realize it until several others pointed it out to him. And from what Sakura had told her, Boruto's father had been the same way.

No, the far greater threat there was that Sarada would develop an interest in Boruto, and refuse to be talked out of it.

Or that Mitsuki would develop an interest in Boruto, if he hadn't already.

Boruto also was not a slacker, or at least not as much of one as she first assumed. He got bored easily, and he liked to take shorcuts, but underneath all of that was a rather sharp mind. So long as his attention didn't wane, he picked things up very quickly, and he had a way of thinking on his feet that she found impressive.

And he was spoiled, but not spoiled rotten. His family had no major financial troubles and lived comfortably, but not to excess, though they probably could have. Boruto's allowance was slightly larger than average, and he was an impulse buyer, but he'd overspent and been denied extra enough times to have an idea of the value of money. Which didn't change what he spent money on, only how often he did so.

He was also fiercely protective of his friends, often to the point of foolishness. He would never abandon them, and his first instinct was usually to charge in immediately to save them, without seeking any help. It was something Sasuke was still working on correcting, and it was a point that Karin took great joy in beating into Boruto. It only took him two days to break down and ask his father how to handle someone that could easily get past an army of clones. And when Naruto learned why, he even sent a clone to observe their training sessions.

Much to Karin's surprise, rather than complain about how rough she was on Boruto, Naruto later met with her privately and suggested ways she could be even tougher on Boruto. He claimed that Boruto was a diamond in the rough, and that more pressure actually forced him to thrive. Karin could tell he truly believed that, because the idea that Boruto might fail was not even mentioned. And it made an awful kind of sense, when she thought about it: if Naruto's parents had truly believed that he could thrive with a chakra monster sealed in him while living in a village that couldn't accept him because of it, then Boruto thriving while training with her was downright easy by comparison.

* * *

 **Continued in Chapter 6: Inheritors** (for sure this time!)

Team Konohamaru prepares for their second attempt at the chunin exams, scheduled in the Hidden Cloud. Like his father before him, Boruto has put his own spin on a certain devastating jutsu. No, not that one. Or that one. THAT one.


	6. Inheritors

Notes: As expected, one consequence of putting out this story alongside an ongoing series is that there are going to be conflicts. So yes, I'm aware of it, and no, I'm not changing it. Details in the endnotes, if you care to read them.

* * *

 **A Brief History As Hokage**

 **A Naruto Fanfic by**

 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 6: Inheritors**

* * *

With the next chunin exams in the Cloud Village drawing closer, a renewed determination appeared in nearly every genin. Even Boruto, who had been known to slack off at times, unless Karin was hunting him down at the moment, did not need much motivation to train longer and harder than he had before. And with this being Team Konohamaru's second try at the exams, they wanted very much for it to be their last try.

Predictably, Sarada went to Sasuke for more specialized training, and Boruto went to Karin because she wouldn't go easy on him. Mitsuki, oddly enough, also went to Karin, less because he needed her specifically, and more because he wanted to help Boruto. Boruto didn't quite see this as help, since it typically resulted in him fleeing from both Karin and Mitsuki at the same time, but no one could say that he was not living up to his father's childhood past time of fleeing from supposedly more skilled opponents.

By now, all three genin had learned it was nearly impossible to sneak up on Karin... while she was paying attention, anyway. And while it might appear that she was distracted while on the attack, Karin had improved her chakra sensing to the point where it was almost a passive ability. In part so she could specifically do it and fight at the same time.

Boruto had decided that the way to get around this was to improve his speed to the point where, even if Karin sensed him coming, she wouldn't be fast enough to stop him. This idea was not without merit, but given the incredible range Karin could sense someone approaching from, and the speed of her chakra chains, he was not even close to managing it, and certainly wouldn't get it done before the exams. But Karin didn't discourage his way of thinking because increasing his speed was worthwhile, even if it wouldn't make a difference in this situation.

Mitsuki's response was far more terrifying: he was gradually mastering a way to erase his presence entirely. And the more frightening part was that he didn't have to start from scratch, because he was already way too good at concealing his presence, at least from his peers. Karin would have been proud, if she didn't know for sure that he would soon start sneaking up on her, just to prove that he could. Once he had perfected it, though, she was equally sure that he would leave her alone and go right back to stalking Boruto. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long.

* * *

There were several reasons why Boruto did not like Karin, but there was really only one reason why he felt he couldn't trust her. It was a rather big one, though. And despite warnings and assurances he heard from others, he thought he needed to clear the air with Karin over it. She might be biased, but she was also one of the more knowledgeable people on the subject.

So one day, he simply asked her outright, "Do you still work for Orochimaru?"

Karin paused and stared at him intently. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because you're important to Sarada, and if your working for him ends up hurting her, then I'll-"

"We've been over this," Karin interrupted. "However you personally feel about Orochimaru, his influence in Sarada's life has actually benefited her. I could even argue that it is directly responsible for her birth and survival."

Boruto nodded, as if she'd just answered his question directly. "So you do still work for him."

Karin scowled. "I don't _not_ work for him. But you're missing the point."

"No, I think you're missing _my_ point."

"Which is what? 'Orochimaru equals bad?' That's cute, and completely outdated. Open your eyes, Boruto. Orochimaru trained Sasuke. Orochimaru ordered me to save Tsunade's life. Orochimaru gave birth to Mitsuki. Mitsuki, and to a lesser extent, myself, are allowed to be here partially because Konoha and the Sound Village are no longer directly opposed to each other's existence. Sarada isn't the only one benefiting from Orochimaru's influence. You are, too. So while I don't expect you to be thankful to him, I do expect you to shut up about how much you don't like him. Especially considering you've never met him, and Mitsuki wouldn't like you badmouthing his father. And it's none of your business, but if I hadn't chosen to work for him, I'd have died a long time ago. Face it, you have more reason to like Orochimaru than you do to hate him. You can't name a single thing he's done to you personally that's bad. And anything he did to your family has been forgiven already."

Boruto just grunted, as he had no way to respond.

Karin grinned at him, smugly. Of course, while she was grinning, she didn't forget that Orochimaru had also birthed Uchiha Shin, who had tried to kill Sarada. Fortunately, Shin was dead now, and even more fortunately, Sarada had never bothered to mention that incident to Boruto, so there was no way he could throw it in Karin's face now as a reason to dislike Orochimaru. And even there, Orochimaru had offered information on Shin, which lead to his defeat. It would be a stretch to say Orochimaru was on the side of angels, but at least, if he was still on the side of devils, he was among the ones that kept to themselves and proved useful in small doses.

"So Orochimaru was fine with you just running off like that?" Boruto asked abruptly.

Karin glared at him. "Who says-?"

"There is no way you were thinking clearly when you showed up here," Boruto said firmly. "I doubt he gave you permission at all. I bet you just ran off and cleared things up later. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, and all that."

Karin grimaced. Boruto wasn't exactly wrong. She hadn't asked for permission, and she never would have dared to run out on the old Orochimaru. But the old one had died, and the new one, from the moment he'd been yanked out of Anko's Curse Mark, had been... mellow. Compared to his old self, anyway. He could actually be reasoned with, provided one knew him well enough. He could even forgive. And more importantly, having a child himself now, he had understood Karin's attachment to and concern for Sarada better than she liked to admit.

Oh, but there had still been punishment, of a sort. Karin was now expected to act as the Sound Village's liaison in Konoha. Which was a lofty way of saying she had to keep track of Mitsuki's progress, closely observe Sarada for any signs of future instability, and, however reluctantly, estimate Boruto's chances of being the world's next great savior. And while she was no longer a prisoner of Konoha, it would be inaccurate to suggest that she was allowed to leave. It was just that now, Konoha wasn't the one enforcing that. And it was a good thing that Karin had had no plans to go anywhere else, otherwise she might have been rather upset about it. She would miss her labs and some of the more comfortable hideouts. But Konoha boasted comparable, and in some cases, superior facilities, and if they were a bit more well-lit and a lot less dank than Karin was used to, she adjusted quickly. And, too, nowhere else could boast being the home of Sasuke and Sarada... or even Sakura.

"Let's just say Orochimaru has no problem with me staying here," Karin said at last. "In much the same way that he has no problem with Mitsuki staying here. In the much the same way that your father the Hokage has no problem with either of us staying here. Worry less about things that aren't in any way threats to you, dummy. Or do you have so little faith in your father to identify a threat so close to you?"

"Well, you did try to kill me," Boruto pointed out.

Karin snorted. "If I had really wanted you dead, you'd be dead. You said yourself that was training, so you were never in any real danger. In theory."

"So you're saying you weren't going to kill me if Tsu-baa hadn't shown up?"

"That would have made Sarada sad, so no," Karin replied.

Boruto frowned. "I think you trying to strangle me would have upset her, too."

"True. But that, she'd get over. Eventually. And it was a misunderstanding."

An idea slowly started to form in Boruto's head, and he didn't like it. "Wait a minute. So you weren't actually crazy then? I mean, you aren't actually crazy?"

Karin stared at him. "I don't even know how to begin to answer that."

"I gave you a pass because I thought you were crazy about Sarada, and I felt bad for you!" Boruto shouted. "I'm pretty sure that's why everyone gave you a pass, in fact! Are you saying that was all an act just to get sympathy?!"

"There are two things you really need to learn about the shinobi world, Boruto," Karin said. "The first is that all ninja are at least a little crazy, it's just to what degree they are that matters. If you want to get along in that world, you get used to handling crazy people very quickly."

"And what's the second thing?"

"Always look underneath the underneath."

Boruto stared at her blankly. "What does that even mean?"

"I hope it won't shock you to learn that I heard it from one of the aforementioned crazy guys once. And he wasn't wrong."

"That doesn't answer my original question. Were you seriously out of your head the day we met, or just faking?"

"You're still not listening. All ninja, by definition, are crazy."

"Fine, but I want to know how crazy _you_ are!" Boruto demanded.

"Not very," Karin replied in what she seemed to think was a modest manner.

"That... doesn't really help your case much."

"Do you think my having an attachment to a baby I helped deliver makes me crazy?"

"No, but trying to kill her friend for virtually no reason definitely does."

"It wasn't no reason, it was a misunderstanding," Karin reminded him. "I thought you were going to hurt her."

"Or you were using that lie as an excuse to attack me, and it worked."

Karin rolled her eyes. "So you think I'm either very crazy, or very smart?"

Boruto nodded. "That much I'm sure of."

Karin chuckled. "Really. Well, I knew this guy named Kabuto once. He was Orochimaru's top man. Only person in the Sound Village who could even come close to Tsunade's medical skill. He spent years undercover here, leaking information and no doubt helping to orchestrate a plan to attack Konoha. Even when he was finally exposed, he just resumed his role in the Sound Village at Orochimaru's side. When Orochimaru died, Kabuto grafted parts of the corpse onto his own body. He went on to supply about half of the manpower on the opposing side of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, in the form of undead ninja. So you tell me, Boruto: was he crazy or smart?"

"I feel like you're trying to make a point here."

"The point is Kabuto was batshit insane, by most people's standards. But he was still easily one of the most intelligent madmen you could ever run into. So thinking he was only either smart or crazy was likely to get you killed and added to his undead army."

"Then the point is that you're also crazy and smart?"

"If I was crazy, I'd never admit it. And if I was smart, then I'd get good at acting just crazy enough to make people think I was more crazy than I was smart. And certainly that I wasn't as smart as I actually am. You can think what you want, but I don't imagine there are many people who can get as close as I repeatedly have to strangling a Hokage's son, and lived to tell about it."

* * *

Karin had resigned herself to the idea that she would be unable to attend the chunin exam finals in person and cheer for Sarada. Despite assurances from Naruto that there were no hard feelings over Team Taka's last "visit" to the Cloud Village, Karin had her orders: she was to stay in Konoha.

At least, that was what she thought, until she was notified by Naruto that her request to attend as a stand-in for Mitsuki's parent had been approved by all necessary parties. She had made no such request, of course, and when questioned, Mitsuki would only say that he didn't want to be the only one there without a parent.

Predictably, Sarada was thrilled by the news, and Boruto... was not, and made no effort to hide it. Karin was actually in such a good mood that she did not punish him for his reaction during their next training session.

The Cloud Village was very serious in showing the lack of tension: a week before the group from Konoha was scheduled to depart, Killer B himself showed up with Samui to act as escorts. Karin understood that this was both busy work to keep Killer B occupied, as well as a sign of how important the safety of the Hokage's family was. And if nothing else, the gesture convinced Karin of the Cloud Village's sincerity. She was strongly encouraged to attend a feast hosted by the Akimichi clan, where Killer B made a point to fist bump with her and Sasuke. He thanked them for a good fight, and helping him arrange an unexcused vacation. Although Karin wasn't sure how to feel about his gift of a pair of sunglasses for Sarada. But they were preferable to (or at least less embarrassing than) the autographed concert T-shirts that he brought for Boruto and Himawari.

And in any case, the far more memorable part of the evening for Karin was when Sakura pulled her aside and said that Sarada needed to talk to her. Karin tried not to show how excited she was by that, but agreed to talk to Sarada that night. She assumed that Sarada had just come down with a case of pre-exam nerves and needed a little reassurance.

* * *

Karin knew right away that her initial assumption had been wrong. Sarada simply looked far too excited to be nervous as she pulled Karin into her bedroom and shut the door. "I, um, got you a gift," Sarada blurted out, grinning.

Karin was both touched and confused. She didn't think she'd done anything lately that deserved a gift. "Sarada-chan, you didn't have to do that."

"I know, but I really wanted to. You kept your promise to me, and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate it."

"Promise?" Karin asked slowly.

"You've been treating Boruto better."

Karin almost voiced her immediate response, which was, "I have?" But she managed to catch herself in time. Instead, she asked, "Who told you that?"

Sarada blinked. "He did."

Karin wasn't sure what to say. As far as she knew, her conversations with Boruto contained slightly fewer insults now and tended to be a bit longer than they had been. But the truth was, they still spent a great deal of time attacking each other, and it was not always limited to training sessions. Frankly, she would have thought Sarada would have been disappointed in her progress, or lack of progress, on the Boruto front. So either Boruto had lied to Sarada, or his standard for better treatment from Karin was extremely low.

Sarada pulled a box from under her bed and eagerly handed it to Karin.

Encouraged by Sarada's excitement, Karin carefully opened the box. Though she had no idea to expect, her only hope was that Sarada had not spent a large amount of money on something that wasn't even deserved. And as she stared into the box, Karin wasn't sure how to feel.

She could see at once that the box contained a purple armband. It was, all things considered, a practical gift, and one Karin was happy to get, if for no other reasons than it was from Sarada, and could easily be matched up with any number of outfits. The only problem was, Karin could not immediately tell how much Sarada had spent on it. The armband seemed to be of fairly high quality, though that could mean that Sarada had asked a local tailor or mother, perhaps her own, to make it.

But it wasn't until Karin lifted the armband out of the box that she saw the rest of the gift. There was the unmistakable shine of a brand new, blank metal plate coming from the box.

Karin slowly raised her gaze to Sarada's grinning face.

"I know you still work for Orochimaru, so I guess that means you're a Sound shinobi," Sarada said. "Only, I haven't actually seen you wearing anything that says so. I wasn't sure if I should ask what the reason for that was, since it's surely personal. But I thought this was a good gift. You can put whatever you want on this one, and you don't have to wear it, if you don't want to. I just want you to have something from me. Because I have my life, and that's from Mama and Papa... and from you, Karin."

"Sarada-chan," Karin whispered. "I don't know what to say, except... thank you."

"You like it?" Sarada asked hopefully.

"I like anything that's from you," Karin replied firmly, giving Sarada a big hug.

Sarada smiled and returned the hug. "Then do you know what you'll put on it yet?"

Karin thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes. Something I will always fight for and treasure, no matter where I call home. And I have you to thank for reminding me of that, Sarada-chan."

* * *

Boruto barely heard anything his mother was saying as his family approached the main gates of Konoha. The reason for his distraction was not the fact that his father was with them. Instead, he was thinking more on what Karin had told him a few days ago: mainly, his mother's family's history with the Cloud Village, as well as Karin's own last trip there. She told him this not to alarm him, but just so he was aware. She added that it likely wasn't a cause for concern now, but just in case absolutely everyone there hadn't moved on, he needed to know why that might have been.

"It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you," she had ended by saying.

What stood out for Boruto was that his parents hadn't told him. Rather, they had cautioned him to be on his best behavior. Naruto had at least mentioned that relations with the Cloud Village had not always been friendly, but that it was all in the past now, as was evidenced by the Raikage and Killer B being very good friends of his. Boruto felt that trusting Killer B with the family's safety was much stronger evidence, but having met them both briefly, Boruto trusted them as well. It was the rest of their village he wasn't sure about now.

Karin had also pointed out that Chocho was living proof of the good relations between the villages, which did explain why Killer B and Samui had chosen to stay at the Akimichi compound, rather than a hotel. Boruto had known that Chocho's mother Karui wasn't from the Land of Fire, and it was only after some clues from Chocho that he picked up where exactly she hailed from. But he hadn't known that Karui and Samui had been teammates, or that Killer B had been their sensei.

It was starting to sink in now... Boruto was really going to need to get better at researching stuff that happened before he was born. There was so much he didn't know, wasn't told, and wasn't thinking to ask about, still. In that respect, it was actually good to have Karin around, as she seemed far less concerned about what information he did and didn't need to have. In fact, sometimes he got the distinct impression that she loved shocking him with revelations just to see how he would handle them. So whether he was thankful for the information or not, the one thing he could not truthfully say was that he hadn't learned a lot from her.

A gentle hand on the back of Boruto's neck brought him out of his wondering, and he looked over to see his mother watching him.

"You seem distracted," she said.

"Just thinking about stuff, kaa-chan," he replied. "This time, I'm sure I'm ready."

"That's good to hear." Hinata leaned a little closer. "So? Have you heard anything yet?"

"Not really. Maybe once we-" He stopped as he spotted the rest of the group at the gates. Sakura was, oddly enough, talking to Killer B, while Karin, Sarada, and Samui had moved a little off to the side. Karin was talking, Samui was listening, and Sarada appeared to only be there because she wanted to be near Karin, as she was currently looking at Boruto's family and waving.

Boruto noticed Karin's armband immediately, in part because there was nothing on it. He glanced at his mother, who shrugged, and he started to approach Sarada.

Karin immediately ended her conversation, intercepted Boruto, and grabbed him by the collar. "We need to talk," she stated, dragging him a few feet away before he could respond.

"What is it?" Boruto asked.

"Anything you want to tell me?" Karin asked, clearly back in her usual state of being in a bad mood when he was around.

"No?"

"Really?"

"No!"

Karin sighed. "Fine. Then I will tell you what I want _you_ to know."

"Okay?" Boruto said slowly.

"I know the armband and forehead protector were from you."

Boruto opened his mouth to deny it.

"I had Akane check, your mother's scent was all over them, and once I'm done putting you in your place, I'm going to walk over there and thank her, and I'm sure she'll know exactly what I'm talking about, so don't even bother."

Boruto winced.

"I also know that you didn't give them to me yourself because you knew I'd never accept a gift from you, and that you got Sarada involved because you knew I'd never refuse a gift from her. Which was sneaky but clever, and I don't doubt that Sarada went along with it, and you probably didn't even have to try very hard to convince her."

"But-"

"I also know Sarada was really excited about this, and it would break her heart if I didn't wear them. So I will, because she is very special to me. And I don't know what you were thinking, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just wanted me to feel like I was a part of something, and not just some outsider. So, thank you. But if you ever put me in a position like that again-"

"I left it blank," Boruto interrupted. "So you could decide where you belonged. I'm pretty sure you don't want to be an Uzumaki or a Leaf-nin, and you don't even seem like you're proud to be a Sound-nin. And tou-chan told me it's not always about what village you fight for. Sometimes it's an ideal that you believe in and would die for. I didn't know what that was for you."

"And you wanted to find out," Karin said, glaring at him. "You still don't know where my loyalties lie, and you wanted to force me to show them. Right?"

Boruto hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah."

"I just need to know one thing. And if you get this right, maybe there's hope for you yet. After everything I've told you, and everything you've learned about me, what is the most important thing in the world to me?"

Boruto knew what he wanted the answer to be. He just wasn't sure it was the right answer. Which was why he'd gotten the forehead protector in the first place. Because even after his father's advice, Boruto had fully expected to see Karin wearing the Sound's musical note. And even that wouldn't have been terrible, because it would have at least made things clear. Really, her not declaring anything, which had been the problem from the start, would have been worse, to him.

A sharp gasp from nearby briefly drew his attention. Sarada was seemingly staring at him in shock with her hands over her mouth. Then she rapidly turned beet red. Sakura looked as if she'd been waiting for this moment, and was trying to decide if she could pull off being supportive without her amusement being too obvious.

Boruto had no idea what those reactions were for, and turned to Karin, figuring she might know something. Doing so gave him all the answer he needed.

Karin had just finished securing a black sash around her neck. There was indeed a metal plate affixed to the front, and it was no longer blank. There was no village symbol on it... not unless the village of Sarada had been established in the last few hours. But Boruto no longer had any doubts about Karin.

"Karin!" Sarada shrieked as she ran over to them. "What are you doing?!"

"Something wrong, Sarada-chan?" Karin asked pleasantly.

"Oh, Karin!" Sarada cried, shaking her head. "You're not really going to wear that, are you?"

"I thought I might, actually. Is there a problem?"

"Is there-? Of course there's a problem! You just carved my name into that plate yourself, didn't you?!"

Karin smirked. "Would you be more or less embarrassed if I had gotten someone else to do it for me?"

"More!"

"Then it's better this way, isn't it?"

"It's not even my whole name!"

"I thought about that, too. It's the same reason why I don't wear the Uchiha clan symbol. It isn't them I'm standing for. It's you."

Sarada glared at her. "Karin, please take it off!"

"I can't do that. I gave it a lot of thought, Sarada-chan. There are people I work with and for, but you... you're the only thing I feel right doing this for. So even if it causes problems or embarrasses you, I'm going to wear it. You can even change your name, if you feel you have to. But this?" Karin lightly ran her fingers along the plate. "This is what's most precious to me. It's been that way from the moment I first saw you. And I've spent too long acting like that wasn't the case."

Sarada stared up at Karin, looking embarrassed and pleased and defeated at the same time. Boruto wasn't really sure how she managed it, but it couldn't have been easy. Finally, Sarada merely stepped forward and buried her face in Karin's chest. Maybe she just wanted a hug at the moment, but it was easy to imagine that was simply the most convenient way to keep people from seeing how red her face was. Either way, Karin hugged Sarada and stroked her hair.

And although Boruto caught Sarada glancing over at Karin and blushing several times during their trip, he never heard her ask Karin to remove the plate again.

* * *

Karin had originally planned to watch the television broadcast of the chunin exams at Tsunade's house. So when Karin found out that she was actually allowed to go in person, that left Tsunade with an empty seat.

Tsunade filled it with Kakashi. And hadn't so much invited him as threatened that if she had to go looking for him, it wouldn't end well.

Kakashi was going to watch the exams, anyway. And he rather liked it when things that involved him ended well. So he showed up early. And brought tea... in a sake bottle. The very same bottle, in fact, that Naruto had given to Shizune, and that Kakashi had quickly stolen just for this purpose. He fully intended for Tsunade to not be mad at him, and so the easiest way was to have her wrath hyper-focused on Naruto instead.

It worked perfectly. Three glasses in, Tsunade was still grumbling about how she was going to cave in Naruto's head the next time she saw him. Kakashi said nothing, merely nodded any time she glanced at him.

The Cloud Village had a very talented broadcast team covering the exams. Most of them were part of Killer B's regular televised concert crew, which just figured. Kakashi personally felt that the cameraman who kept zooming in on Karin, as well as the commentator who suggested some connection between her and a certain exam participant, deserved a raise. Tsunade just barked out a laugh and had more sake.

And Kakashi had to admit, Boruto seemed like he was on his best behavior.

Until.

"Oh damn, did the brat just do what I think he did?" Tsunade breathed.

Kakashi just stared. If nothing else, he could take some assurance from the fact that Boruto's prank in no way offended the Cloud specifically. And really, since Boruto had the horrid luck of facing Mitsuki in the finals, he could not even be blamed for getting desperate.

But perhaps the most shocking thing, more than Boruto resorting to a jutsu that he later revealed was called Boy Love no Jutsu... was how devastatingly well it worked on Mitsuki and nearly cost him the match.

Nearly.

Except, even while projected backwards with blood streaming from his nose, Mitsuki still had the presence of mind to direct a snake to bite Boruto's ankle. The bite wasn't lethal, of course, but the particular venom used caused near-instant, temporary paralysis, and Boruto collapsed soon after.

Kakashi thought briefly of the many times he'd heard Karin dropping hints around Boruto that maybe Mitsuki liked him a bit too much. "Huh. So that's why."

As if summoned by the thought, while Mitsuki was being declared the winner, Karin ran out onto the battlefield, helped Boruto up... and then immediately punched him in the back of the head and yelled that he was an idiot, drawing a pained yelp and a glare from him.

Tsunade blinked a few times. Then she began cackling uncontrollably.

"What? Did I miss something?" Kakashi asked.

"You really don't see it?" Tsunade gasped, grinning at him.

"Um, no?"

She sighed and shook her head. "You will. You're his student, after all. Let it sink in." She stood up and left the room.

Kakashi turned back to watch as Karin dragged Boruto away, stomping right past every medic that tried to stop her and glaring at any that got too close. They seemed to take the hint and eventually stopped trying. The sight did seem vaguely familiar, but Kakashi couldn't place it just yet.

* * *

Boruto had thought he'd be done getting yelled at when he finally got back to the hotel. He was wrong.

"I still can't believe you did that, Boruto!" Sarada snarled.

"I still can't believe how well it worked," Boruto murmured, glancing over at Mitsuki, who had been quiet and very much distracted since his victory.

"That doesn't make it right!"

Boruto frowned at Sarada. "I wasn't trying to be right, I was trying to win. What would you have done if you'd had to face him in the finals?"

"Not _that_!"

Boruto rolled his eyes. "Well, of course not. Girl Love no Jutsu obviously wouldn't have worked on him. That's why I didn't use it."

Sarada glared at him. "That's not even close to being the point here!"

"Yeah, it is. You think you could have handled the fight better, but you'd be in even more trouble than I was, since you couldn't even use what I did. And even if you could, you'd be too 'dignified' to use it. So Mitsuki would have beaten you even faster than he did me. I don't see what you've got to be so snippy about, anyway. Even though you lost your match, you're definitely still getting promoted."

"You don't know that for sure, and don't change the subject! It was wrong of you to take advantage of Mitsuki's feelings!"

Boruto grunted. "So, if I'd had a crush on you, and we had to face each other in the finals, you wouldn't have used that against me?"

"I wouldn't have to," Sarada said promptly. "You'd be so busy showing off how strong you were in an attempt to impress me, that I'd be able to beat you easily."

Boruto started to disagree, thought about it, and grinned. "Maybe, but you _would_ be impressed in the end. That would take the sting out of it for me."

"Oh, shut up. Make sure you apologize to Mitsuki. I mean it, Boruto!"

"Okay, okay!" Boruto didn't really think Mitsuki would need or want an apology, but he didn't want to risk both of his teammates not talking to him over this.

Mitsuki was staring at the wall. Boruto called his name three times with no response, and finally bumped him with a shoulder. Mitsuki blinked and looked at him.

"I don't know what you're thinking or why you're not talking, but I don't want any bad blood between us, okay?" Boruto said. Personally, he didn't think he had done anything wrong. He'd simply used the resources available of him. Perhaps, if Boruto had won the fight under those circumstances, he would have felt guilty. But as it was, he was still slightly annoyed that Mitsuki had won despite the move that should have won Boruto the match.

"Why would there be bad blood between us?" Mitsuki finally asked. "It was a very good match."

Sarada gaped at him. "But, Mitsuki...!"

"It was. I had fun." Mitsuki smiled. "I look forward to the next time that we fight, Boruto."

Boruto grinned at him. "Same here, buddy! Let's fight again!" He clapped Mitsuki on the shoulder, but then became all too aware of Sarada glaring at them. "But, um, why were you so quiet?"

"Oh." Mitsuki paused, trying to decide how best to choose his words. "That last jutsu you used. I was... unprepared for it? Normally, I am prepared for almost anything. So this... gave me much to think about."

"You're not mad?" Boruto hazarded.

Mitsuki shook his head. "Disappointed in myself. But not mad."

Boruto winced. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Well... maybe it was _kind of_ a dirty trick for me to use."

"Oh? How so?"

"Because I knew... how you felt about me, and I used it." He didn't really want to say it, but now that he knew Mitsuki was blaming himself, it really made Boruto feel like scum. "Sorry, Mitsuki."

"No, it was a clever tactic. I hadn't considered it." Mitsuki thought for a moment. "It was very, very clever."

"Don't praise him for it!" Sarada snapped.

Mitsuki glanced at her. "Why not? Under the right circumstances, such a move would have defeated me. And it has made me aware of a weakness that I... hadn't realized was a weakness. So it helped me, as well."

Sarada frowned. "He had no right to play with your heart like that!"

"I think it is better to say he had no choice," Mitsuki corrected. "I have studied Boruto very closely. I know of nearly all of the jutsu he has learned, how he typically fights, and how best to counter him. I was one of the worst possible opponents for him. But the reverse is true: because he knew me so well, he was the worst possible opponent for me."

"So you're not even mad at him?"

Mitsuki shook his head. "There is no reason to be." He paused. "Why are _you_ upset, Sarada? I don't understand."

"Aside from the fact that exploiting someone's feelings is frowned upon? A jutsu that throws naked people kissing in your face is really, really wrong!"

"You might want to re-think that opinion," Boruto said, grinning. "Considering who I learned it from, and who he learned it from."

Sarada glared at him. "Anyway! Throwing random naked boys kissing-"

"But they weren't _random_ ," Mitsuki interrupted. "Were you not looking closely? The boys kissing were clearly Boruto and myself. That's _why_ it was so effective. I wouldn't have been distracted at all if they had only been random boys. That holds no appeal to me."

Sarada blushed. It was pretty clear that she had known all of that, but had been avoiding drawing attention to the details. "That's... good to know?" she squeaked.

Mitsuki nodded. "I would not want you to be misinformed."

Boruto laughed. "Yeah, that would be awful," he said cheekily, sticking his tongue out at Sarada.

* * *

Days later, Team Konohamaru stood before the Hokage's desk, awaiting the final word on the chunin exams. There was only one new flak jacket in sight, and everyone in the room knew who it was going to. So it was no surprise when Naruto motioned Sarada forward.

"I was very proud of the way you handled yourself in that fight, Sarada. Even in defeat, you pushed your opponent to his limits, forced him to fight on your terms, and had a surprise for him at every turn. There is little doubt in my mind: if your chakra reserves were larger, and you knew a few more jutsu, you would have won that match. It was a unanimous decision by the exam board: you have earned your promotion to chunin."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Sarada murmured, accepting the flak jacket with a trembling smile. She blinked, noticing an envelope sticking out of one of the pockets.

"Be at that address in two hours," Naruto added. "I think a non-Uchiha perspective on genjutsu might give you some new ideas. You're dismissed."

Sarada bowed to him and hurried out of the room.

"As for you two," Naruto said, turning to Mitsuki and Boruto, "I reviewed your fight several times, and I've come to a firm conclusion. There are really only two types of people who fail to get promoted: those that really, really aren't ready, and those who only need a bit of polish to be ready." He paused to let that sink in, and then smiled. "So I'm going to be doing the polishing myself. I'll give you each a challenge. If you pass it, you get promoted. If you fail... well, you'll just have to stick with it until you pass. I have that much confidence that you'll both succeed... eventually."

Naruto focused on Mitsuki. "I won't lie, I was very surprised at your reaction to Boy Love no Jutsu. I hadn't thought something like that would be so effective on you. But since it was, I'd rather that didn't happen a second time. So we need to build up your resistance to it. And I only know one way to do that." Naruto summoned a Shadow Clone and ordered promptly, "Take him to the bookstore, you know the one." Noticing Boruto's incredulous stare as the clone and Mitsuki left, Naruto frowned. "I blame you for this, you know."

That made Boruto grin, at least until he realized it was his turn.

"I don't know if you'll consider what I have for you to be easier or not," Naruto sighed. "But I think it's something that even you will have to spend considerable time on. And if you can manage it, you can say for sure that there's one area where you've more than surpassed me."

Boruto's eyes gleamed. "Bring it on, tou-chan."

Naruto smirked. "I want you to create Lightning and Water Release versions of Rasengan. And then I want to you to create an entirely new variant. If it's something I haven't seen before, I'll make you a chunin."

"You don't ask for much, do you?" Boruto grumbled.

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't have faith you could manage it," Naruto pointed out. "And if I'm right, this will take you long enough where you'll be the last one promoted on your team. But it will also ensure that no one can possibly deny your right to be promoted."

"Why didn't you add Fire Release to the list?" Boruto asked.

"Do you think you can actually do that?"

Boruto grinned and pointed at him. "If I do, I want to hear you say that I'm better than you!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "How's this? I'll admit that you mastered Rasengan before I did."

"Deal! Be prepared to look bad, tou-chan!" Boruto turned and ran from the room.

Konohamaru coughed. "There's something really wrong with this family," he muttered.

"How so?" Naruto asked.

"Boruto already created the Vanishing Rasengan, which means he's already passed the latter part of your challenge."

"Yeah," Naruto chuckled. "Funny how he didn't pick up on that."

Konohamaru shook his head. "And you aren't going to tell him."

"Nope, and I don't want you telling him, either. Partially because being a chunin is not overlooking details like that, and partially because he'll be so focused on coming up with something new that he actually will do it. I admit I want to see that. And I'd like to think that even if he did realize his mistake, he'd still come up with something new, just to rub it in my face."

"Which is the second part of why this is so odd. He's so determined to make you look bad that he doesn't seem to get that doing this would make you proud."

"Or at least it would make me feel better, as opposed to how the usual trouble he gets into makes me feel," Naruto pointed out. "Even I never ran a damn train car into the Hokage Rock..."

"Yet another area where he's surpassed you," Konohamaru said dryly.

Naruto groaned. "It's not even that I don't want him to be better than me. He's already smarter than I was at that age. I just wish he'd do something with that brain that wasn't entirely focused on being-"

"The new number one hyperactive, knucklehead ninja?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You just had to say it, didn't you?"

Konohamaru grinned. "Yeah, I really did."

* * *

Sarada hadn't recognized the address that Naruto gave her, but it turned out to be a small coffee shop. Her immediate thought was that perhaps the owner was a retired shinobi who had specialized in genjutsu. That was proven false the second she walked in: everyone working there was a civilian. But when Sarada explained why she was there, she was directed to the manager's office. She knocked twice on the door, got no response, and hesitantly poked her head in.

It was a broom closet.

But on the other side of it was a clearly false wall. At least, it was clear to anyone with even a year of shinobi training, and even more so to anyone with a Sharingan. It took a few minutes, but Sarada found a broom that she couldn't actually pink up, and instead twisted the top of it.

The back wall slid away.

Sarada enter a short, curving corridor, and in only a few steps found herself in a small chamber. It was, if nothing else, a bedroom, in that it only contained a bed and a chair. On that bed was Kakashi, and seated next to him on it was a woman.

Sarada could not help her first reaction: she blushed and started to flee back into the corridor.

"Ah, hold on, Sarada!" Kakashi called. "It's not what you think! At least, it's probably not what you're thinking."

"It's _definitely_ not," the woman said firmly, glaring at him.

"So cold, Kurenai-chan," Kakashi sighed. "I thought we were closer than that."

"We are. But so long as we're in this room, it's Kurenai-sensei to you, and I don't allow that kind of talk from my students."

Sarada stared at them. It was definitely not what she'd thought... unless this was the weirdest date she'd ever walked in on. "What's going on in here?" she asked hesitantly.

"You see, I was feeling lonely," Kakashi began, "and desired the company of a lovely-"

"Stop it," Kurenai interrupted, glaring at him.

"Fine. There are certain skills I needed to brush up on, and Kurenai here is a specialist in the same area."

Kurenai turned to Sarada. "Which level of class are you here for, dear? Remedial, beginner, or advanced?"

Sarada made an odd choking noise as she looked from Kurenai to Kakashi and then back again several times. "Did you... say you offer a _remedial_ class?"

Kakashi sighed. "Alas, my secret shame is exposed."

"But why?!" Sarada cried in disbelief. "You... you're-!"

"I'm a person who used to have a Sharingan," Kakashi explained patiently. "Certain things just don't come as easily now, genjutsu among them. All the more reason to make sure that you don't lose yours, Sarada."

"I... um, yes," Sarada agreed. "So, should I come back later?" she guessed, edging toward the corridor again.

"That won't be necessary," Kurenai said. "It might be better if you watch. The main difference between the remedial and beginner class is that beginners have little to no prior experience. Kakashi does have experience, but since he now lacks the Sharingan that gave him much of that experience, he essentially has to re-learn, which can be tricky, depending on the person. Thus: remedial."

"But... will it matter that I'm here for the advanced class?" Sarada asked.

Kurenai shook her head. "Everyone can use a bit of a refresher before they start a class. Consider this yours." She turned back to Kakashi. "Alright, let's see it one more time."

Kakashi batted his eyelashes at her. "You make me shy when you just demand it like that, Kurenai-chan."

Kurenai raised a fist and shook it at him. "Don't make me hit you."

Sarada had the strangest idea that this was what it would be like for her, if Boruto ever became Hokage. It would be extremely difficult to show the proper respect reserved for that title to someone she knew, despite his unnatural talent to succeed at nearly everything he attempted, deep down at his core to be a moron. Not because he lacked brainpower, simply because he insisted on devoting the bulk of it to acting as if he had none.

Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed.

The scene that appeared was a rather familiar one: Boruto, just after he'd lost his match against Mitsuki, while Karin stood over him, absolutely furious. Sarada was certain that Kakashi hadn't been there, so he must have seen the live broadcast. But as she watched, the scene began to change. The arena background blurred, becoming a forest, surely one that could easily be found near the village. And then the people began to change.

Boruto's hair became spiky and darkened to black, while a pair of goggles sprouted on his forehead. His familiar black jacket with red trim became blue with orange trim, and most shocking to Sarada, the Uchiha clan symbol appeared on his back.

Where Karin had once stood, there was now another furious redhead in a green dress, but her hair was closer to red instead of neon pink, and stretched past her waist. Like Karin, she also had chakra chains, and used one of them to smack the scowling boy on the back of the head. He glowered at her, and when he turned away to finger the growing lump on his head, he missed the fact that a small, infectious smile had appeared on her lips, but it was gone the instant he turned to face her again.

Sarada got the distinct impression that whoever these people were, Kakashi had cared for them deeply, to recall them in such rich detail, when she could not recall having seen either one recently.

Abruptly, the illusion collapsed and faded. Kakashi opened his eyes. Sarada thought they seemed a bit unfocused.

"That's enough for today," Kurenai said with surprising gentleness. "We'll see where you are in a few days. And before you object, it's not your chakra I'm waiting for to recover."

Kakashi nodded faintly and stood up. He seemed to have trouble recalling either where he was supposed to go, or how to walk at all.

Sarada stepped forward and grabbed his hand. It wasn't something she'd planned to do, but it seemed to her to be the best option. "May I start my first class another day?" she asked.

Kurenai nodded. "I'm sure we can work something out."

Sarada glanced up at Kakashi, who was staring straight ahead. "Is he always like this afterward?"

"No. But he would say that sometimes, he gets lost on the road of life. For the purposes of this class, though? It's more like he's lost in his memories."

"So how do we get him back?"

"Give him something to focus on in the present."

Sarada immediately stomped on Kakashi's foot.

Kakashi blinked and stared down at her. "Did you just assault your Hokage?"

"You must have imagined it," Sarada replied. "And you're my former Hokage."

Kakashi looked at Kurenai. "You saw that, right? She attacked me."

Kurenai blinked. "I saw a chunin assisting her Hokage."

"Former Hokage," Sarada repeated.

"Yes, that."

Kakashi gave the very strong impression of pouting beneath his mask. "I don't like you two very much right now."

Sarada tugged on his hand, guiding him into the corridor. "We should go, Rokudaime-sama. I'm sure you have other appointments."

"Oh, so you do remember how to address me properly?"

"I don't know what you mean. I'm always respectful to my elders, Rokudaime-sama. I'll walk slowly so you can keep up. We can pick up a cane on the way."

Kakashi glared at her. "Your parents told you that I used to make them wait for me, didn't they?"

"No," Sarada said. "But suddenly, I think what you need is someone who will keep you on your toes."

"You mean the ones you just stomped on?"

Sarada pretended she hadn't heard him. "Treating you how you like to be treated isn't the way to keep you grounded."

"I'm not going to be able to get rid of you, am I?" he asked.

"Since getting rid of me is clearly something you'd want? No."

"Promise me you'll bug Naruto at least half this much one day, and I won't throw you off of the nearest cliff. I have it on good authority that it makes for an effective training tool."

* * *

Boruto was not sure where the idea came from. Of course he had not been planning to ignore Sarada's promotion, and the idea of celebrating it also didn't bother him. She'd deserved it, and he was not jealous, because he was equally sure that his own time would come, and it would be just as deserved. But suddenly, there were whispers that Sakura was planning a small party for Sarada at Ichiraku Ramen. That, too, he was on board with.

Until it was suggested that he actually get her a gift. It wasn't that he was against it, it was just that he had no idea what to get her. Mitsuki seemed equally stumped, so he was no help. In fact, they had both agreed that if either came up with something worthwhile, they had to immediately inform the other. But hours before the party, neither had come up with anything good. Mitsuki was seriously considering giving her rare snake venom to coat her kunai with. And it wasn't so much a bad gift idea, as it was that Boruto had absolutely nothing to do with it, and that would instantly be obvious if they claimed it was from both of them.

And maybe that was that finally gave Boruto the idea: something that was obviously from him.

So as Boruto watched Sarada stare at the tightly sealed container of snake venom with an unreadable expression on her face, he turned to his father, who had actually shown up in person, having learned his lesson about clones at parties. "Hey, tou-chan. About that Fire Release variant we were talking about earlier."

"Oh? Giving up already?"

"You wish," Boruto snorted. "I was just wondering, does it still count if I get someone else to master it first?"

Naruto smirked and shot him a knowing look. "I don't see why not. I was going to teach it to that same someone else if you hadn't already, anyway."

Boruto's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Stay out of my head," he muttered, drawing a laugh from Naruto.

So when it was Boruto's turn to offer a gift, he grumbled and said he'd give it to Sarada later, in private, and had to endure much teasing. But Sarada, as he'd known she would, defended him and said she believed every word he'd said. She always did.

Although she was extremely shocked when Boruto asked her to dance a few minutes later, to the point where Boruto had to grab her hands and drag her, red-faced and weakly protesting, out to the street. And perhaps because he was aware that both of Sarada's parents, and Karin, were in attendance, his hands never went anywhere near Sarada's waist. In fact, he kept his hands firmly clasped around hers, and that seemed to cause Sarada more than enough embarrassment. But he did need to get close enough to whisper in her ear. And as he did so, the red rapidly vanished from her cheeks, and a look of awe filled her eyes.

In the end, though she never told anyone, she liked Boruto's promotion gift better than any other: the brief, tiny flicker of red chakra between their interlaced fingers, gradually glowing brighter, which slowly started to spin.

* * *

 **Concluded in Chapter 7: Shadow**

"I've figured something out about being the Hokage, Sarada-chan. It requires you to sacrifice the people most precious to you for the village. But it doesn't work the other way around. People who would sacrifice the village for their precious ones? They might be called a lot of things, but Hokage isn't one of them."

* * *

 **Endnotes:**

While I don't think Mitsuki would be impacted by typical, everyday perverted ninjutsu, I do think something focused specifically on the idea of him and Boruto being involved might work wonders. And it's not so much that he is perverted, as it is that he's unfamiliar with that level of intimacy between friends and thus has no resistance to it. As for what bookstore Naruto would be taking him to? It's either one that has books featuring boys kissing, or it's the same one Sai got all his self-help books from. Maybe _Dealing With Unrequited Love Between Friends_ is a specific title that could help.

That conflict I mentioned earlier? It's the idea that Kakashi might be bad at genjutsu, or at least not as good as he used to be, without his Sharingan, which is clearly not the case in the anime. Now, even if it was an issue once, he's had over a decade to correct it. So it's not as if the scenario I presented here couldn't have happened. Sarada just wouldn't have been around to see it. Also, there's a huge difference between the level of genjutsu that can fool an academy student, and the level of genjutsu that the most dangerous Sharingan users were known for. It's the latter I expect Kakashi would either have trouble with or is no longer capable of. And it's not even so much that I think Kakashi would suck at all genjutsu. But anything that dealt with nostalgia, as it did here, he might be particularly distracted by.

It's natural to think Naruto would be the Hokage that has a hand in training Sarada, and I suspect it will happen. But this is (arguably) a unique situation where she could learn from not one, but three separate Hokage. Kakashi has at least shown his face in the anime (so to speak), so that's two confirmed that Sarada can learn from. Assuming he hasn't forgotten everything about having a Sharigan, he might even have some insights to share in that area. Particularly about chakra conservation, since Sarada had trouble with that early on.

Before anyone tells me that's not how you teach the Rasengan: that's the point. Boruto is a genius, but has a very hard time explaining how to do things that just come naturally to him. So if you were expecting him to spit out Jiraiya's instructions verbatim, it was never going to happen, in this story or in canon, I can guarantee that much. But I would like to think he has noticed the combat styles of his friends enough to know, as a "genius", how they learn best. Which is somewhat supported by the anime, and will be more important next chapter.


	7. Shadow

Notes: I was going to delay this chapter even more than I did, so I could see how the anime handled certain things. But now I see that's a huge mistake. So if you're comparing this to the anime and looking for inconsistencies, I suggest you stop it right now for the sake of your sanity. I wish I was kidding, you have no idea how much I wish that.

* * *

 **A Brief History As Hokage**

 **A Naruto Fanfic by**

 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**  
 **Chapter 7: Shadow**

* * *

Sarada panted weakly and slowly rolled over to stare up at her mother. "I don't get it, Mama. Why did you give birth to me, only to wait until now to try and kill me?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, easily palming a boulder the size of a small bear. "You said you wanted me to train you and not hold back. This is how I was trained, by a Hokage, no less. Suck it up. Besides, it's not like I actually hit you."

Sarada gestured as forcefully as she could, which was not very, to a large bruise on her left arm.

"That _clipped_ you. You wouldn't still be conscious if it had actually _hit_ you. I still hear you complaining, so you're definitely conscious. At any rate, you're doing better than I could have at the same age. I didn't have a Sharingan to show me where not to dodge."

"But it doesn't help much, if I'm not fast enough to move in time to where I'm supposed to."

Sakura nodded. "Which is why we're doing this, so you do get fast enough." When Sarada only groaned, Sakura shook her head and dropped the boulder. "But if you're not going to move at all, I guess I can't throw rocks at you anymore."

"Boulders," Sarada said firmly. "They were boulders, not rocks."

Sakura snorted. "For anyone else, maybe. For us, they're rocks. Trust me, when I start throwing boulders at you, dodging won't be an option."

Sarada closed her eyes as her mother began to prod and probe the bruised arm with healing chakra. She had to remind herself, again, that she had begged for this training only days earlier, and when cautioned that it wouldn't be easy, she had still insisted on attempting it. And they had started off slow. But as the difficulty increased, so had the size of the projectiles. So while it should have been easy to dodge larger ones, when Sakura could manage to throw three in a row in the space of seemingly a second... that wasn't so easy.

Sarada knew she couldn't exactly trust her sense of time while her Sharingan was active, but even so, her mother appeared to be faster than she had any right to be. At least, Sarada was sure that working in hospitals and being a housewife did not translate into that level of speed, and she could not recall the last time she'd seen her mother actively training. Pointing that out was likely to get the difficulty increased, but Sarada was very curious as to how it was possible.

Before she could think more on the subject, Mitsuki suddenly appeared, leaning over her. "Are you busy, Sarada?" he asked.

Sarada sighed, not feeling much like moving at the moment. "Why?"

"The Mizukage requested us for a joint mission, and Sensei is out of the village at the moment. We leave tomorrow morning."

Sarada frowned. Though the training was difficult, she really didn't want to stop in the middle of it. Or more accurately, she didn't want to have to dread coming home to finish it during the whole mission. "Didn't you tell me that you saw Iwabe this morning?" she asked.

Mitsuki nodded. "Yes, he said his team was going to work on their taijutsu all day."

Sarada grinned. "Perfect."

* * *

It was not hard to find Iwabe's team, as they had never really changed the habits they'd had back when Sarada had known them in the academy. Between Metal's energetic shouts, and the overwhelming musk of his and Iwabe's combined sweat, Sarada couldn't imagine how they would have managed to hide from anyone.

When Sarada found them in a training field, Iwabe was shirtless and drenched in sweat. Metal was trying to sell him on the virtues of green bodysuits, and Iwabe must have been exhausted, because he actually seemed to be listening. Sarada figured that this was the perfect time to interrupt, she didn't want anyone else in their generation wearing that monstrosity. Denki, their final teammate, was nowhere to be seen, and had likely been sent to fetch water.

"Iwabe!" Sarada shouted, running up to him. "I need a favor."

Iwabe grunted and wiped some sweat from his face with a towel. "I'm booked for the day."

"That's perfect, I don't need you until tomorrow. My team got requested by the Mizukage, but I need to stay here and train."

Iwabe at least didn't look disinterested, or furious, given his less than pleasant background with the Mist Village. "It's not like I mind hanging out with Boruto and Mitsuki, but what's in it for me?"

"If I ever copy any Earth Release, I'll share it with you first."

Iwabe considered that for a few seconds. Then he glanced at Metal. "What do you think?"

"Add in you including Denki in whatever training you're doing while Iwabe's gone, and we've got a deal," Metal said.

"But-!" Sarada began to protest, then changed her mind. "Fine. But don't complain to me if he's bruised when I give him back."

"If he's bruised because he's been working hard, I'd prefer he was covered in them."

* * *

Denki was a lot more than bruised over the next two weeks, but Sakura healed him enough that he never went home with anything worse than bruises, at least. And because he was nowhere near the level that Sarada was on, it gave her the chance to see how someone without the Sharingan was forced to dodge. She realized that not activating her Sharingan during the training was worth a try. And after experiencing the difference firsthand, it improved her dodging with and without the Sharingan.

As a sign of good faith to Iwabe, Sarada went out of her way to pester Kakashi until he agreed to pass on some Earth Release jutsu. None of them seemed too impressive to her, and she feared Iwabe would accuse her of shortchanging him. Kakashi reminded her that even in peacetime, other villages were not in the habit of simply handing out their techniques, and with his reputation as the Copy Ninja, most ninja had always been especially selective with their jutsu around his former Sharingan in particular. He added that if she felt he was lying, then she was welcome to approach any Stone-nin and see how well asking for their jutsu went over with them.

Considering that the very next one Sarada saw, hours later, was the Tsuchikage herself, and Kakashi had obviously known she was in the village, since he went out of his way to introduce Sarada to her, Sarada did not go through with the attempt. Although she did swear that she was going to make Kakashi pay for that prank.

* * *

To Sarada, it was as if she awoke in a nightmare.

Karin shook her awake in the middle of the night, and Sarada sat up to find her parents, Konohamaru, and a clone of Naruto also crowded into her bedroom. Sasuke, Konohamaru, and Naruto's clone looked like they already knew what needed to be said, but Sakura and Karin looked notably uncertain.

"I was contacted by a Sound chunin early this morning," Naruto's clone began. "A patrol team came across a battle two days ago along the northern border of the Land of Fire. They recognized one of the participants as Mitsuki."

Sarada's heart stopped. Something had happened to Mitsuki?

"He was pursuing an unidentified force of eight ninja. The Sound patrol immediately moved to assist him. Although their intent was only to capture, Mitsuki executed every unidentified ninja on the spot."

Sarada shook her head slowly. That didn't sound like the Mitsuki she knew. There was no way-

"When questioned, Mitsuki explained that shortly after his team completed their latest mission and returned to the Land of Fire, they were attacked by an unknown group. During the battle, one of his teammates was crippled, and the other was kidnapped. Mitsuki was wounded, but managed to send out a distress signal that was picked up by one of our border patrol teams. However, he refused to return with them, evaded their attempts to stop him with force, and pursued the unknown group alone."

Sarada was having trouble breathing. Either Iwabe and Boruto had been taken, the other was crippled, and she had a horrible feeling that she knew why Naruto's clone hadn't said which was which yet.

"The border patrol team identified the crippled teammate as Yuino Iwabe. They gave him emergency treatment and transported him back to the village, but one member followed Mitsuki. Mitsuki caught up to the initial attack group after they had made contact with higher-ranked reinforcements. He was able to confirm that there had been an exchange, and that the group he'd been pursing were only henchmen who knew nothing of importance. Aided by the lone border patrol member, Mitsuki chose to strike."

This surprised Sarada, at first, but then she thought she understood the border patrol member's decision: this unidentified group had the Hokage's son, and had already handed him off. And Mitsuki would have refused to sit back and watch while Boruto was taken further away from him. Better to have his energy directed against the enemy, instead of against the ally trying to help him.

"The unknown group's elites escaped while the henchmen covered their retreat. Both the border patrol member and Mitsuki were critically wounded, but the Sound squad gave them on-site treatment and transported them to the Sound Village, where Orochimaru himself saw to their wounds. While performing surgery on Mitsuki, Orochimaru received a message that we since have also received: a warning from the Mizukage that the New Seven Ninja Swordsmen escaped from prison. They again attempted to steal the Swordsmen's blades, but were confronted by Karatachi Kagura as they reached the armory. In the resulting battle, Fuefuki Kyoho and Kagura were killed. The remaining five New Swordsmen fled without the swords, stole a ship and headed to the Land of Fire, most likely pursuing Iwabe, Mitsuki, and Boruto. Mitsuki insists that he would have recognized them, and they were not part of either group he was pursuing. Still, the timing of both incidents cannot be ignored, especially since the New Swordsmen could only have escaped with outside help, and whoever helped them was definitely not Kagura."

"H-How are Mitsuki and Iwabe doing now?" Sarada murmured.

"Mitsuki is recovering, and will return once Orochimaru deems him able to travel. But Iwabe suffered extensive damage to his spinal cord. Without a miracle, his shinobi career is over."

Sarada bit her lip. Iwabe had only been there because of her.

"I know what you're thinking, Sarada, and Iwabe asked me to pass a message on to you. He's still holding you to the deal, and expects you to channel any guilt you feel into energy to find Boruto. He hasn't given up, and doesn't expect you to, either." After a pause, Naruto's clone reached over and placed a hand on Sarada's head. It was nothing he hadn't done before, and it had always managed to reassure her. But this was the first time his hand felt far too heavy, like it was made of stone. The clone dispelled a few seconds later, and Sarada immediately felt herself crushed between her mother and Karin, who seemed to be trying to subdue her with hugs.

"Are you okay, Sarada-chan?" Karin whispered in her ear.

"H-He... barely said anything about Boruto," Sarada muttered.

Sakura winced. "I'm sure he's concerned, Sarada. But if people saw the Hokage panicking-"

"I know, it's not that." Sarada couldn't really explain what she meant, but she knew there had been something wrong with Naruto's reaction. She could also see it in the tightness of Konohamaru's face, and she suspected it was only his loyalty to Naruto that kept him quiet.

"The thing that people always seem to forget in times like this," Sasuke said abruptly, "is that the Hokage can't do whatever he wants, no matter how much he may want to. Which is exactly why he can depend on people who aren't Hokage to do what he isn't free to."

Sarada would think back on those words, many times, when her father vanished from the village for long periods after that. He never said, and she never asked, but she believed that he was doing what Naruto desperately wanted to, yet wasn't free to: spending every second searching for Boruto.

* * *

One thing quickly became apparent just weeks after Boruto's kidnapping: Sarada was not at all satisfied with the effort to find him, and she wasn't the only one.

There were teams sent out to look for Boruto, of course, just not very many at the same time. It seemed as if the majority of the search was being left to Sasuke. Which was good in that he didn't need to return the village that often, but bad in that he was only one person.

The one person that seemed more frustrated than Sarada was Karin. She had made several passionate pleas to both Naruto and Orochimaru to be allowed to search for Boruto. Both men said the same thing: she was needed in Konoha. Orochimaru reminded her that she had come to Konoha for Sarada's sake, and leaving her exposed might invite the same fate that had fallen upon Boruto. Naruto would only say that if Boruto's kidnapping was a trap to draw him out and leave the village vulnerable, they would need her ability to sense oncoming threats there more than ever. The rumor was that Karin actually lost her temper and punched Naruto in the face, but if it was true, then she was never punished for it. Possibly Naruto felt they were all being punished enough as it was.

Six months later, Mitsuki finally returned to Konoha. Sarada suspected it hadn't taken him nearly that long to heal, and he confirmed that he had taken "the long way" back to the village, obviously having extended the trip to look for Boruto. The only souvenir Mitsuki had picked up from the battle was his left eye, which now appeared to be permanently bloodshot, and combined with the natural yellow of his eye, gave it a almost orange sheen. He attributed this to a head wound that hadn't been treated in time, but assured Sarada that it in no way impacted his vision, which seemed true enough. Still, it was a little hard to look at for long, less because of how it looked, and more because it served as a reminder of what they had lost.

Not surprisingly, Boruto's kidnapping hit his family the hardest. Naruto's easy smile had virtually vanished. He spent more and more nights sleeping in the Hokage Tower, and Sarada eventually discovered that this was not just because he was burying himself in work. Rather, Hinata made it clear to him that while she understood that his hands were tied, she simply could not share a bed with a man who wasn't doing more to find her son. And rather than sleep elsewhere in the house and be reminded of that fact, Naruto simply didn't go home. Himawari tried to stay close to both of her parents, but she clearly agreed with her mother, even if she never said so.

Though Sarada had been expecting it somewhat, what surprised her most was how Boruto's kidnapping impacted her friends.

Despite his injury, Iwabe never gave up on being a shinobi. He was confined to a wheelchair, but Sarada often saw him zooming through the streets with it or lifting enormous weights with his arms. Denki, in an effort to help Iwabe, joined their former classmate Sumire in the Scientific Ninja Weapons Team, and was determined to design a combat-capable wheelchair. It didn't hurt that he convinced his father to make large financial donations, either. Metal, feeling he was carrying the weight of both his friends, lost his nervous edge and became much more serious. Overall, it was an improvement, but Sarada sometimes missed the old Metal, since the new one only had time for his teammates and training.

Shikadai was the real surprise. He confided in Sarada that he could have been promoted in either of the past two chunin exams, but purposely held back so as not to leave his friends behind. Clearly, that was no longer a concern for him. With no explanation, Shikadai retired from the shinobi forces, and was quietly replaced on his team by one of his cousins. Chocho took this rejection hard, and Inojin apparently never spoke to Shikadai after that. Anyone who expected Shikadai to spend all his time cloud-gazing was proven wrong, however: he took a number of odd jobs, usually as a delivery boy of some kind. More than once, Sarada saw him delivering flowers, so even if Inojin hadn't forgiven him, clearly some Yamanaka had.

Mitsuki shared in Sarada's frustration. Like her, he was considered a high priority target, so the odds of either one ever being assigned to a search team were very slim. And even that they probably could have accepted, if only they knew for a fact that everything else was being done to find Boruto. It was hard to blame Naruto, because if nothing else, few in the village questioned his dedication anymore. He had put the village's well-being before that of his own son, and in the long run it might have cost him the little family he had left. So even if the lack of Boruto had dimmed the light in their hearts, Konoha was safe.

And Sarada had never hated living there more.

But still not as much as Mitsuki did. Unlike her, however, he had other options. When Boruto had been missing for two whole years, Mitsuki couldn't put up with the lack of progress any longer. He informed only three people of his decision: Sarada, Konohamaru, and Naruto, in that order.

Sarada couldn't find it in her to be angry or disappointed. He had tried, he really had. Mitsuki had even tried to transfer his blind loyalty for Boruto to Sarada. It had been terribly awkward, and Sarada finally had to beg him to stop. It wasn't the same, and it just hurt them both in the end. But they were still teammates, and Mitsuki left his forehead protector with Sarada, along with a promise that he would come back for it one day. And Sarada understood, without him saying it, that the search would never end, for him. Mitsuki would return to the Sound Village, take up a new forehead protector, and join the ranks of the Sound-nin. Where being Orochimaru's son had handicapped him in Konoha, it would allow him more freedom in Sound. Freedom he would use to search the globe for Boruto.

How could she possibly hold that against him? Her only question was why he hadn't done it sooner. And, of course, she already knew the answer: he hadn't wanted to abandon her. But if that was what it took to find Boruto, she could handle it.

That day, they stood at Konoha's gates, staring at each other, neither knowing quite what to say. And Mitsuki finally stepped forward, pulled Sarada into his arms, and to her shock, kissed her. It was not a romantic kiss, but one of promise. He would never stop searching, but he also wouldn't forget the teammate that hadn't gone missing. They would be whole again, one day, the three of them. And Sarada poured herself into that kiss, because she wanted desperately to believe that.

There was no pounding in her heart as he walked away, no butterflies in her stomach, no blood rushing to her head. There was only the certainty that Mitsuki would keep his word, that he would never fail a second time, that he would destroy anything or anyone who stood between he and Boruto.

* * *

Mitsuki's departure seemed to be the trigger.

The New Ninja Swordsmen (perhaps realizing the folly in still calling themselves "seven", they did so no longer) resurfaced, claiming responsibility for Boruto's death. Many severed blond heads turned up just inside the borders of the Land of Fire. All were tested, none were Boruto.

Naruto checked the first head himself. He knew at a glance that it wasn't his son. Even so, he held it for a very long time, saying nothing as he met its dead gaze with his own. And while his gaze wasn't dead, it did seem to harden and lose some of its already faded brightness.

Then, he very softly, but very firmly, demanded their heads in return. On that point, he would not be swayed. Not even when he received several messages from the Mizukage, at first asking, and finally demanding, that bringing the New Swordsmen to justice be left entirely to the Mist. Naruto didn't care.

Or rather, he was finally showing that he cared too much. He would not risk weakening Konoha by sending out numerous search parties, but he also wasn't going to let a bunch of punks taunt him over the fate of his son, particularly when they likely had little or nothing to do with it. A kill on sight order was issued by Naruto, not that it needed to be official. Boruto may not have been especially beloved by the village, but his father still was, and to insult him in this way was unforgivable.

Mitsuki must have had similar thoughts, because the Sound launched an aggressive campaign against the New Swordsmen, rapidly reducing their numbers from five to just three. Their goal was obviously not obtaining captives, only bodies.

With Mitsuki gone, Sarada found herself not having a team. She thought, briefly, of asking to be attached temporarily to another team, but didn't really get the chance. Between her own parents, Karin, Kakashi, and Kurenai, she had no shortage of experienced ninja willing to teach her. And teach her they did, to the point where Sarada was certain they were doing it, in part, because she no longer had a team. She would get the occasional mission that paired her with old friends from the academy, but more often she would find herself assigned to a team where she was the lowest ranking member. She was being overprotected, it was annoying and insulting, and every time she stood before Naruto's desk and looked into his eyes, it was an internal struggle to fight down the overwhelming urge.

To hug him, and promise him that she wasn't going to disappear, too.

They never spoke of it. They never had to.

That unspoken promise became a living, breathing thing that existed between them.

It was there when Naruto was happy to take a break from whatever he was doing to offer tips on how best to use the Rasengan.

It was there when Sarada never needed to explain why she had to sleep in Boruto's bed on two specific nights every year: his birthday, and the anniversary of her chunin promotion party. Rather, it was Boruto's family who had to explain why they never told her that Mitsuki used to sleep there virtually every night except on those two. The answer, of course, was that they'd assumed the two of them had worked it out that way.

And most of all, it was there every time Naruto taught Sarada things that she knew would only be useful to her when she became Hokage. Because that would require her not to have disappeared on him.

But that was okay. It all was. Sarada had been the child that Karin never had, for less important reasons. She could easily be the child that Naruto hadn't lost, for far more important ones.

* * *

Four years. It was amazing to think that Boruto had been gone for that long. But it was more amazing that not even a bit of progress had been made in finding him. At least, as far as Sarada knew. She didn't even know if he was still alive. She told herself that there would have been some sort of ransom by now, if he was, but that was not necessarily true. There was still no concrete reason as to why he'd been taken in the first place. But they must have needed him alive, at least initially.

Sarada could not remember the last time she had seen her father in the village very clearly. Although what stuck out in her mind was that she had said to him, under her breath, that if he had time to stand around looking grim as usual, wasn't there something better he could be doing? She regretted it later, but of course, he was gone by then, and there was no way for her to contact him. The last thing she wanted was for her father to think that she didn't want him around. He must have understood her better than she knew, however, because every few months, a hawk would land on her arm, carrying a note from Sasuke. There was never anything important in them, usually he just complained about his current travel conditions, or how something would remind him of how big an idiot Naruto used to be.

Himawari had gotten special permission to join the Barrier Team. Certainly, it helped that her father was still the Hokage, and one of her older cousins offered her an apprenticeship. She didn't smile as much anymore, which wasn't unexpected, but it was different enough that Sarada made a point to visit her as much as she could. If Himawari noticed the concern, she never mentioned it. And always, Himawari promised that Sarada would be the second person she notified when Mitsuki returned. She never did say where Sarada would rank if it were Boruto that returned, and Sarada couldn't decide if it was because she would be much lower on the list, or if Himawari didn't like to talk about him.

A few of Sarada's old friends had already become jonin, and they all said the same thing: that they'd thought she would be the first. It didn't bother her. Although her official rank was still chunin, that in itself was misleading. With a little effort, she could be a special jonin with a focus in genjutsu. With a full effort, she would have been a jonin already. But if she were honest with herself, there was only one reason why she hadn't: Mitsuki wasn't back yet. It was silly, she knew, but if she couldn't share that accomplishment with the one teammate she had left, then she didn't want it. If she couldn't make another important memory with him, what would she look back on fondly if something happened to him? It was entirely possible that Mitsuki was a Sound jonin already. But he was exactly the sort of person that wound insist on being named a Leaf chunin upon his return, if only to be equal with Sarada.

Sarada didn't know if it was the job, or Boruto being gone, or both, but Naruto aged rapidly in those years. She didn't doubt that he was still easily one of the most powerful shinobi in the village, but the youthful Hokage she had once looked up to no longer existed. Increasingly, others in her generation began to affectionately call him "oyaji", and Sarada had to learn to suppress her initial reaction, which was outrage. She could not deny that his age had also changed her perspective of him, but only in the sense that it made her even prouder to have been taught by him.

* * *

Deep sleep was something Sarada had left behind as a child, out of necessity. It simply wasn't a good practice, in a ninja village. Not just for the more common risk of oversleeping, but for the far more vital one of being overly vulnerable to attack. Sarada could not say that she had been attacked much while sleeping, but one time was more than enough.

So when Sarada felt something furry brush against her ankle one night, she was only half-asleep and able to leap out of bed instantly, whipping out a kunai she kept under her pillow. She felt rather silly when she saw what had disturbed her.

"Nue," she sighed, relaxing as the tiny youkai padded across her bed and stared up at her expectantly. She hadn't seen him in years, not since the academy graduation test, when Sumire had summoned him to rescue her. As far as she knew, Sumire only called him in emergencies, so the fact that he was here now should have indicated some sort of urgency. But Nue did not seem at all alarmed, and even allowed Sarada to pet him.

"What are you doing here?" Sarada asked. "Where's Sumire?"

In response, Nue ran up her arm and perched on her shoulder. At once, a black, man-sized hole appeared in front of Sarada.

She glanced at Nue, who was staring at her. "I was sleeping, you know."

Nue was unimpressed.

Sighing, Sarada braced herself and walked through the hole. She emerged inside of an enormous, white room. The only thing of interest in it was a framed photo with a silver plaque near the door. Sarada only recognized one of the people in it: Tenten as a teenager, with her arms draped around two short men, one much older. All three were covered in soot, but looked very happy despite that. Sarada read the words on the plaque aloud.

"By the joint order of the Godaime, Rokudaime, and Nanadaime Hokage, in honor of the Konoha Ninja Tool Research Facility's boundless spirit of adventure, the sector of the Konoha Scientific Ninja Weapons Team devoted to the most daring weapons research will be known as Sector Jidanda. All who work there must carry on the Facility's mantra: Always challenge yourself, and never be too afraid to try, fail, or succeed."

Sarada wasn't sure what to think. She had never heard of that sector, or known that there was any connection between Tenten and the Scientific Weapons Team. The two had never mentioned each other in Sarada's presence, at least. And the few times Tenten had lectured at the academy, her focus had always been on more traditional ninja tools. Although, Sarada could understand why Tenten might not want to encourage more ninja kids to risk blowing themselves up before they knew what they were doing.

Suddenly, the door slid open, and Nue jumped from Sarada's shoulder, landing neatly in Sumire's arms as she walked in.

"Sarada," Sumire said warmly, smiling at her. "I'm sorry to call you out so late."

"I assume it's important?" Sarada asked.

Sumire nodded. "You should have been told years ago. But it's taken us this long to adapt the weapon into a more user-friendly format."

Sarada stared. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I know. That changes right now. Follow me, please." Instead of exiting through the door she had come through, Sumire knelt down and brushed her hand against the tiled floor. A hidden panel slid away, revealing a staircase leading to a lower floor. Nue hopped out of her arms and vanished down the stairway. Sumire followed.

"How long has this been here?" Sarada asked as she descended the stairs behind Sumire.

"I know it was here when I first joined, but I wasn't given access until I'd been here for some time. They have to be very careful about who is allowed into Sector Jidanda. I'm sure if it weren't for Nanadaime-sama, I still wouldn't have access. I think... what happened to Boruto has made Nanadaime-sama more daring."

"Or more desperate," Sarada murmured, not unkindly.

Sumire glanced back at her. "That, too. But I've done my best to repay his faith in me. And I hope that now, my work will finally do the village some real good. But you can be the judge of that, after you've spoken with my project supervisor. He decided that you should be brought in tonight."

Sarada was already picturing an older man. But when the stairs ended in what looked like a conference room of sorts, there was only one person seated at the table in it, Nue was sitting on the person's knee, and any thoughts Sarada had of the project supervisor being an older man instantly left her mind.

"Shikadai?!" she shrieked, drawing his relaxed gaze.

"Could you shout a little louder?" he sighed, scratching his head. "I think there might have been a few people you didn't rudely wake up."

"How is this possible? You left-"

"The general shinobi forces, so I could focus my time into the more specialized ones," Shikadai answered. "There are certain pursuits I found worth the trouble."

"Like ninja tool research?"

"Like Boruto."

Sarada froze. "What does that mean?"

Shikadai stared at her. "What you think it does. We haven't just been depending on your father and a few search teams. Do you really think that's all the effort they would put into finding a Hokage's firstborn? Forget you and Mitsuki, how do you think the rest of us felt? Boruto was my best friend. I tried to act like everything was normal, but it wasn't. Life without him wasn't and isn't. I had to do something, and this is what I'm doing."

"But... you haven't found him, right?" Sarada asked softly.

Shikadai grimaced. "No. But we've managed to narrow down some possibilities."

"Okay." Sarada took a deep breath and released it. "Okay. So tell me what you've figured out."

"Well, you have to understand that this all starts with New Swordsmen escaping, and I've been over the official report the Mist sent us a million times, so first things first: the New Swordsmen _don't_ have Boruto."

Sarada shook her head. "I figured that, but you're saying you have proof?"

"The timing is all wrong. When Boruto's team was ambushed, the New Swordsmen were still in a boat on their way to the Land of Fire. Plus, the only visitor they were allowed in prison was Kagura. There was no way for them to plan any escape without help from him, and he didn't give it. Then there's the escape itself. Kagura was nowhere near the prison at the time, and the second he learned about the escape, he went straight to where he knew they would go: the armory where the Swordsmen's blades are kept. Kagura beat them there, and did his best to stall them until reinforcements could arrive."

"That seems like a tall order, even for him," Sarada noted.

"Then you'd be wrong, because it actually worked out great. Shizuma was the leader, and he was seriously pissed at Kagura for getting in his way. He wanted to kill Kagura first, and then get the blades. And he would have had to, because Kagura wasn't going to let them get those blades without a fight. It was a point of pride for Shizuma. He wanted to prove he didn't need his gang or Samehada to beat Kagura."

"Was he right?"

"Didn't seem like it. They never did get into the armory. And by the time reinforcements finally came, Kagura was dead, but so was Fuefuki. He was the big one, remember? Fuefuki's wounds were consistent with damage from Kagura's twinsword, Hiramekarei. Crushed ribs, punctured lungs, drowned in his own blood. But Kagura's wounds were weird."

"In what way?"

"At first, they thought the New Swordsmen brought a bomb, and Kagura got caught in the blast. But the Mizukage examined the scene himself, and said there was only one way to explain Kagura's death: self-inflicted. He blew himself apart. It's a self-destruct jutsu that used to be exclusive to the Swordsmen and Mist hunter-nin. Gathers all the water in the user's body, superheats it, and makes it explode in all directions. Even stranger, the situation didn't require that. Kagura was winning. It all comes down to the extra man. Whoever helped the New Swordsmen escape in the first place. He managed to slip in completely undetected, and fried all the security cameras everywhere he went in the village that night, which is the only proof they have that he exists at all. And he did reach the armory, the exterior cameras were fried there, too. Whatever he did there changed everything for Kagura. It's difficult to be sure with all the pieces Kagura was in, but it doesn't look like he'd been fighting a desperate battle. So what kind of opponent could spook Kagura so much that he'd deliberately throw away his life in a fight that he was winning?"

Sarada shook her head. "Unless it was Yagura back from the grave, I can't think of anyone."

Shikadai nodded. "That's where my theory comes in. I think Kagura faced something that night that he felt powerless to prevent. Some force that he had no hope of defeating or holding back. It wasn't the New Swordsmen. It had to be something so terrible that even being defeated by it wasn't an option. He had to destroy his own body... to keep them from using it. For what, I don't dare guess. But for blowing himself up to be preferable to what they had in store for him? It had to be awful. So maybe Yagura being back from the grave isn't such a wild guess. It would explain why Kagura made sure his own body wasn't intact."

"And you think this extra man is controlling the New Swordsmen?"

"Don't know. But he isn't alone. Mitsuki said the guys who took Boruto were just grunts, and they handed him off to higher-ranked goons. I think this was their way of recruiting the New Swordsmen as low-level grunts. So while our attention is focused on the attention-seeking punks, the higher-ups and their bosses continue to work in the shadows."

"And they're the ones who have Boruto," Sarada concluded.

"That's my theory. I'd be shocked if the New Swordsmen ever even saw Boruto after they escaped. They're too loud, too stupid to be trusted with something so important. And if they actually had Boruto, they should be able to offer something more genuine than fake heads."

"The heads weren't _fake_ ," Sarada said angrily. "They just weren't _him_."

"You're right. Sorry." Shikadai shook his head. "My point is, they could have shown us something to prove they really had him. Some hair, a finger, an ear. They have nothing but their taunts." He paused. "And we... know he's not dead."

Sarada stared at him. "How do we know that?"

"Nanadaime-sama says that Sound has a way of confirming it. He won't say what it is, but I'm guessing it's Edo Tensei. If Boruto was dead, that'd be one way to know for sure. And if that were the case, by now we'd have more details on who took him and what they did to him."

"Mitsuki," Sarada said abruptly. "Do you think he-?"

"He's Orochimaru's son," Shikadai interrupted, already knowing what Sarada was going to ask.

Sarada frowned. "Which means what?"

Shikadai rolled his eyes. "Sarada. Where did Boruto get the Rasengan from?"

"Konohama-"

"And he got it from?"

"...Nanadai-"

"And he got it from?"

"Jirai-"

"And he-?"

"Okay, I see your point!"

"Do you? Do you, really?"

Sarada scowled at him. "Yes. Mitsuki most likely knows Edo Tensei, and probably has bits of Boruto's hair to use for it. But that wouldn't be such a horrible thing, would it?"

"I never said it was. But I don't want you in denial about this. We're all making use of the talents that the previous generation left to us. If it helps us find Boruto, I won't complain. And if we had a way to confirm he isn't dead without starting a body count in the process, even better. Which is where you come in."

Sarada didn't like the sound of that, and it must have shown on her face.

"Relax, we're pretty sure it's not dangerous. Sumire's been testing it on herself for months, and nothing bad happened to her."

Sarada turned to Sumire, who was now holding a white shoebox. "And what's in there will help me confirm if Boruto is alive?"

"We can't really guarantee that," Sumire admitted. "But there's a strong possibility that you should find out right away."

* * *

It didn't work. Or, it didn't work the way Sarada had hoped it would.

There had only been a pair of black goggles in the shoebox. They were overly large, clunky, and something Sarada never would have chosen for herself even if she were in the market for eye protection. But how they looked wasn't anywhere near as important as how they worked.

Once she was back in her bedroom, Sarada hesitantly slipped the goggles on over her closed eyes again, and waited a few seconds. Then she slowly opened her eyes.

"Still here," said the man perched outside her window.

Sarada grimaced. "I figured. You're always here, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "More or less."

"Why aren't you with Papa?"

"He isn't the one who holds my interest just now."

Sarada sighed. "Are you going to stay out there the whole time?"

"Unless you intend to invite me-"

"Yes, fine, come in. In is far more preferable to you out there, staring like a creeper."

The man stepped through the window easily enough, despite it being closed and locked. He actually seemed uneasy about being in her bedroom, although Sarada could not decide why.

"So. You're in now," she observed.

"Yes," he agreed.

"Now what?"

"I don't know. I've never been in this situation before."

"You've never been inside the house before today?"

"I've never been able to interact with anyone in the house before today."

"Oh. Right." She frowned. "Wait, you've been in house before!"

"Ah. You noticed that part."

"Yeah, I did! When?!"

He gave her a look. "If you want the whole list, you'd better sit down first, that could take a while."

"I think I'm starting to regret inviting you in now."

"It's not as if I mean your family any harm. Quite the opposite. And I don't actually need permission to be here, obviously. It's just nice to feel welcome."

"Sorry, it's weird to know you've been watching us all this time."

"And you would find it less weird, if I was watching some family I wasn't related to?"

"I'd... feel less weird, since you wouldn't be watching me, but I see your point."

"I hope you can believe that I would never harm you, Sarada."

She nodded. "I know you wouldn't."

"I'm sorry I don't have any information about your friend."

"It's probably good that you don't. If you did, it would likely be because you'd met him, and... that wouldn't be good for anyone. Anyway, I guess it's kinda neat, being able to talk to you."

"It's neat being heard, finally, as well."

"In that case." Sarada moved closer, and though she knew it was pointless, reached for his hand. Her fingers passed through his without even a hint of resistance. She settled for sort of poking him in his palm. "Welcome home, Itachi-sensei."

He blinked. "But I am not-"

"Oh, yes, you are. If you actually think I'm not going to pump my S-rank uncle for info on absolutely everything, you're insane. So start talking, Sensei."

Itachi smiled. And then he talked.

* * *

Naruto tried very hard not to laugh, the next time he saw Sarada in his office. He really did.

He failed.

"It's _not_ funny," she grumbled. She was actually so self-conscious about the scarf she was wearing, that she seemed to have forgotten the goggles over her eyes entirely.

"Oh, but it is. Don't get me wrong, I know why you did this. But I'm pretty much the only one, so this?" He gestured to her scarf. "This is hilarious."

"It's really not."

"Respectfully disagree."

Sarada scowled at him. She had decided to keep the goggles, Itachi's knowledge was simply too invaluable to discard. Unfortunately, they didn't really go with anything that she owned. So she'd ended up buying a black scarf, just so she could at least be matching. It gave the somewhat mild impression that she was insane for dressing for a snowstorm in a location that enjoyed a great deal of warm weather.

On the other hand, if one knew who her sensei was, then it instead gave the impression that she was mimicking him. Which, since she definitely wasn't, anyone who assumed that would find adorable... or gut-bustingly funny. It didn't help that it was indeed too warm to have the scarf wrapped completely around her neck, so Sarada absolutely had to let it hang. But she made a point of buying a child-length scarf, rather than the extra long variety her sensei preferred, as she wasn't interested in tripping.

Karin had at least kept a straight face until Sarada left her sight, but Sakura hadn't even tried. Naruto... they knew each other too well. She'd have known if he was lying about liking it. More due to the fact that nearly everyone who claimed they liked it was lying, though.

Naruto tapped the intercom on his desk before Sarada realized why he was doing it. "Mirai, get in here, you _have_ to see this."

Sarada's eyes widened. "Wait, don't-!"

Mirai walked into the office, took one look at Sarada, and made a certain face. Then she quickly stowed it and said, "Awwwww! That's so cute!"

Sarada preferred the face. Laughter, she could deal with better.

"That's all I wanted," Naruto said. "You can go now, Mirai."

"No, I think I need a picture of this first," Mirai said, still grinning. "Before she gets a chance to destroy the scarf. He deserves to see this."

Sarada grimaced. "If I go show him right now, will you promise not to take any pictures?"

"Deal," Naruto said over Mirai's protests.

"Thank you." Sarada stiffly walked out of the office.

"You shouldn't have agreed to that," Mirai complained.

"Don't worry," Naruto said. "I only had about twenty different people e-mail me pictures of her before she got anywhere near the Tower. And I only asked about half of them in the first place. The pictures will be all over NinTube in minutes."

"Have I mentioned lately that you're an awesome boss? Because you are." Mirai paused. "I think it was really sweet of you, to do this for Sarada."

"Sweet had nothing to do with it. Those masks from the Uzumaki shrine were just collecting dust. Once I sorted out the ones that instantly kill anyone who handles them, it only made sense to repurpose the rest."

"And you lucked into one that allows the wearer to see ghosts."

"I prefer to think of them as shades," Naruto replied.

"The goggles?"

He rolled his eyes. "The people. Shades, not ghosts. Ghost implies a whole lifetime of experience to draw on. But depending on your luck, you could get someone who lived to be 160... but the version you get might only be 6. We're just lucky Sarada managed to find the one shade that's acted like he was 160 since he was 6. So I can't take too much credit. I wouldn't have thought of turning a mask into goggles, myself, but I'm sure there was at least one Uchiha who would approve."

* * *

At that very moment, Sarada passed a young Uchiha boy on the street. It took a moment for her to recognize him, but it really shouldn't have. He was also wearing goggles.

He merely gaped at her for a few seconds. Then, with a wide, flirtatious grin spreading across his face, he wiggled his eyebrows at her, and gave her a double thumbs up.

Sarada yanked off her goggles, stuck them firmly on her forehead, shuddered, and then quickly ran off.

After an extremely embarrassing conversation with Konohamaru, during which his eyes actually grew damp, and he did his very best to hug her before she could escape (both of them were partially successful in that respect), Sarada found that she actually didn't mind wearing the goggles and scarf. She did not hate instantly being recognized as Konohamaru's student, in part because she was the only one still active in Konoha. And of all the people she had learned from, Konohamaru alone understood her specific flavor of guilt where Boruto was concerned: under normal circumstances, they would have been there when he and Mitsuki came under attack, to fight alongside them. That they hadn't was their failing, and theirs alone. It was silly because Mitsuki would never blame them, only himself, and they would never blame him, only themselves. It was why they had been such a good team, and why it hurt so much, now that they weren't.

* * *

Itachi had promised that he would inform Sarada if he came across any information related to Boruto. For as much time as she spent using the goggles, Sarada understood that this was a branch of ninjutsu she wasn't likely to master. And she wasn't sure she wanted to even try.

The goggles functioned in a similar way to many doujutsu: they made shades, who were normally completely undetectable, visible. But the process depended heavily on the user, because Sarada only ever encountered shades that were connected to her in some obvious way, and usually no more than two at once. She had gotten a bad shock one evening, when she came home to find two people who turned out to be her father's parents lurking in the kitchen while her mother made dinner. They hadn't meant any harm, but the very idea that Sakura was Sasuke's wife seemed odd to them, although they weren't very clear on why that was. But Sarada distinctly heard Fugaku mutter " _pink_ " when he thought she was out of hearing range.

And, unfortunately, she still ran into Obito from time to time, and he still seemed to have a huge crush on her. Sarada wasn't sure how this was possible: he was dead, and basically an echo of a ghost. And she did not like to imagine that he had been watching her long enough to fall in love with her, because that was creepy on several levels. Still, he was a good source of information, though mostly on things like what Kakashi was like as a kid, or what Naruto's parents had been like. And he always complimented her goggles, which was the opposite of flattering because they weren't even part of her, but at the same time she didn't want him flattering her looks, because again, that would have been creepy.

There was a downside. All shades were not helpful, and some were downright disturbing. The first time Sarada came across Shisui, missing one eye, carrying the other in his palm, and covered in blood, she hadn't wanted to use the goggles for a week afterward. And he wasn't even the most disturbing Uchiha shade. Itachi was able to warn her if she was about to enter a section of the village where she was most likely to run into such things. He seemed able to go anywhere she could, which she knew was unusual for a shade. The price of this, however, was that he was not always in his most useful form. At times, he was a somber-faced boy, and the vast store of knowledge she had become accustomed to him drawing upon would be somewhat limited by comparison. Even so, he still knew and understood far more than any child that age should have. But it was no good asking him questions about the higher-end abilities of the Sharingan while he was like that, for example. And they both found it odd for her to call him "sensei" when he was like that.

They both understood that the only reason Sarada was doing any of this was to eventually obtain some information on Boruto. If worst came to worst, she fully expected that Boruto's shade would join those drawn to her, and she would know for sure that he was dead. And so far, the only shades that frequented the Uzumaki home were Naruto's parents, Jiraiya, two people who could only be Hinata's mother and uncle, as well as the famous "cousin Neji" whose grave Himawari visted no less than twice a month. Neji had taken to watching over Himawari in return, who spent less time at home, and focused more on her barrier duties. She, too, was doing what she thought was best for Boruto. Or perhaps she simply wanted to be the first to welcome him home.

Sarada, though, after years of waiting and wondering, didn't have the heart to tell her what Neji already knew.

Fate is not always so kind.

* * *

"This is so stupid," Sarada muttered, more to herself than to Itachi as she ran through the forest. He was annoyingly faster than her, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was passing soundlessly through every obstacle, although that was clearly a benefit.

"Perhaps not advised," Itachi admitted. "But stupid? Obito would say-"

"I know very well what he would say, and you are here, with me, specifically because you tend to say what he does not. Please don't start disappointing me now."

Itachi smiled. "Very well. It's not much farther."

Sarada could not decide if that was a good thing. At the moment, she was on a mission, and she had run away from it. Was still running away from it, and Mirai, as squad leader, was going to kill Sarada when she got back. So it was better, if the destination was much, much farther away. But not so far where Mirai might lose the trail.

All of that was important. But none of it mattered quite as much as the fact that, six minutes ago, Itachi had come across some information related to Boruto. He had used those exact words, which told Sarada nothing concrete. So her options were... well. There hadn't really been any. She hadn't even seriously considered ignorning him.

Itachi was right: a minute later, they came across another shade in a clearing, obviously Itachi's source.

Sarada had a problem with him right away. He was blue, shark-like, and way too familiar-looking, even though she was quite certain she'd never seen him, specifically, before.

"This guy... is he related to Shizuma?" she asked.

"He is the reason the Hoshigaki family was treated with such scorn, yes," Itachi said.

That was more than Sarada had been expecting. "And you're trusting him because?"

Itachi glanced at the blue man, who shrugged, then turned back to Sarada. "I suppose the best way to put it is that he was one of the few teammates I was able to depend on. We ultimately had completely opposed reasons for working together, but he never betrayed me, and he was an effective partner."

"You should have said he was your partner from the start. That's good enough," Sarada said. "Though, shouldn't he want to help Shizuma, not me?"

The blue man snorted. "They may not have respected what I did, but they damn sure respected me. That little punk can't even say that much for himself. So if it's all the same to you, I'd much rather help out Itachi's niece, especially if it means an end to the further embarrassment of Swordsmen's name. And I have to admit, your family drama is always way more interesting than anything I come across on my own."

"It's not about family this time," Sarada said.

"Isn't it? Your team, your clan, your village. It's always about family, and how far you're willing to go for them. You're willing to turn your back on a mission, so you can't tell me this kid you're looking for isn't family. Just do me a favor. When you beat Shizuma, you tell him he has no family."

* * *

The entire squad knew exactly what Sarada's goggles did. And they all knew what Sarada would risk, to bring Boruto home: anything and everything.

So when they came across Boruto's name carved into a tree, they didn't need to discuss what it meant. They just moved faster.

* * *

This was not the plan that Shizuma had always envisioned.

Kagura had failed him, not once but twice. And then, when the man from Kara had come to make their dreams a reality, Shizuma had stretched out his hand to Kagura one last time, willing to forgive any past sins.

And Kagura, with a smile, chose to throw away his own life, rather than live Shizuma's dream. None of it made any sense. Even those in the group who thought they didn't need Kagura had been stunned. Because it meant that Shizuma's words had failed to reach Kagura. Because if Shizuma could lose two of them just trying to escape prison, maybe he wasn't the leader they believed him to be.

But still, they followed him. And a good thing they had. The man from Kara was interested in the New Swordsmen. Not in Shizuma alone. If Shizuma had lost his gang then, he knew Kara would consider their investment wasted. And he didn't like to think how they would have settled the debt.

But he hadn't lost his gang. And the man from Kara had assured them that even down two members, there was still a place for the New Swordsmen in the organization. That he still wouldn't give his name was the first clue. That retrieving their swords had obviously never been a priority to Kara was the second.

They were pawns. But Shizuma did not dare to tell his gang, because if he lost them, Kara would collect from him personally. So they followed him, no matter how bad things got. And they got bad. Kara offered supplies, use of hideouts, and occasionally men, but not much else. Which was fine, until Shizuma realized that Kara was withholding intel on Leaf and Sound patrols being in the same area, intel that might have saved Ichirota and Hassaku. His men, his friends, had died because Kara didn't care whether they lived or died. And Shizuma sometimes didn't know what was worse: living for Kara, or dying for them.

They had told him, once, what they would do to Boruto. And Shizuma's immediate thought was that torturing and killing the kid would have been more effective. But that was because their goals were different. Shizuma was only concerned with reviving the Swordsmen and the Bloody Mist. Kara wasn't strictly opposed to that, but they weren't going to contribute considerable resources toward it. No, Shizuma suspected that if he had been able to conquer the Mist, Kara wouldn't have been at all opposed to having a Mizukage in their pocket. But they weren't going to put him on a throne that he couldn't claim through his own power. And now, for the first time, Shizuma could admit that dream had died with Kagura. And Kagura was the only one who could save them now. Kagura had softened Chojuro's heart, and Chojuro remained the key to their revival. Even now, he still wanted them alive. And that was more than Shizuma could say for Kara. In the Mist, they would live, though as prisoners, for a time. But with Kara, they would keep dying, and that lost its appeal fast.

But before Shizuma could put the next part of his plan to return to the Mist into action, it came to him directly, in the form of fiery, assured doom from above.

* * *

Sarada stood, tensed and ready, on one side of a wall. On the other side, she could hear the surviving three New Swordsmen: Shizuma, Buntan, and Hebiichigo. Itachi had gone first, to ensure they were alone, and came back with surprising news: Hebiichigo was visibly pregnant, at least eight months along. Immediately, he suggested genjutsu to knock them all out in one shot, though he recommended adjusting the type and potency with the baby in mind.

A curious realization came over Sarada as she listened to him: she didn't care. Not about Hebiichigo, the baby, or anyone else on the other side of that wall. Shizuma was the one most likely to have information, but also the least likely to talk. Maybe, just maybe, if Hebiichigo watched her comrades die, she would talk to save her baby. But if not, then she was useless, and Sarada wouldn't have spared much effort to keep her alive.

This should have bothered Sarada. It didn't. These were the same people that took credit for taking away Naruto and Hinata's child. Maybe if they had to experience the same pain, they would understand what they put others through. And if they didn't understand, it was still justice. But if losing any more of their members was their breaking point, and ended any chance of them sharing information that could lead to recovering Boruto, then Sarada would never forgive herself. She had to take them alive. For now.

Fortunately, before Sarada had to make a decision on her own, a hand slid over her mouth, and she was very close to palming a kunai until she saw that it was only Mirai, accompanied by the rest of the squad. Mirai gave her a furious look, and Sarada knew they would having a _chat_ later, but ever the professional, Mirai instantly shifted her focus to the more pressing situation.

* * *

Buntan was the first to realize something was wrong, and looked up. She saw, as the other two did a few seconds later, Sarada crashing through the ceiling feet-first, a flaming Rasengan the size of a small planet hovering above her hand. "MOVE!" Buntan yelled, but this command was followed by a brand of movement that no one present actually expected the New Swordsmen to make.

Hebiichigo didn't move at all, but the other two ran to aid her. Shizuma threw himself in front of her, and with a single hand seal, raised a rushing wall of water to shield them. Buntan performed a huge blackflip, landing behind Hebiichigo in a crouch and drawing two shortswords.

It might have actually been an effective defense, under other circumstances.

Except that when Sarada and the Rasengan crashed into the water wall, they began to shimmer and then vanished. But by then, the real Sarada had already drilled the real flaming Rasengan, which was far from planet-sized, into Buntan's back, slamming her into a nearby wall, and Shizuma had fallen when Mirai used her trench knives to deliver a slashing wind to the backs of his ankles.

And when Hebiichigo finally tried to move, she couldn't, due to the abnormally fluid shadow that had latched onto hers.

"We could keep going," Mirai told Shizuma calmly as she stood over him. "Although one of you is just barely concious, the other is in no condition to fight, and if you were actually good enough to take down my whole squad alone, you wouldn't be on the ground right now. So it's your call."

Shizuma stared up at her for a long moment. Finally, he chuckled. "Took you long enough. I was starting to think I'd never get a chance to show this off." He jerked his head up, exposing his throat, which seemed like suicide, at first. But the motion had also yanked free his necklace, which had been hidden by his flak jacket.

It was Boruto's necklace. And it was covered in old, dried blood.

* * *

"So to review," Naruto said slowly, "you abandoned a mission in progress to follow a lead, didn't inform your squad, and very nearly attacked three New Swordsmen on your own."

Sarada stared straight ahead and said nothing.

"And you," Naruto said, turning to Shikadai, "similiarly lost your head when you saw Boruto's necklace, forcing Mirai and Sumire to restrain you both, which could have easily lead to Shizuma mounting a successful escape attempt. Have I gotten everything right?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Sarada murmured. Shikadai nodded.

Naruto sighed deeply. "This could have gone really, really wrong. I will punish you, eventually. But right now, I'm hyperfocused on the New Swordsmen. I'm sure I don't have to say it, but let's make it official: you're suspended from all missions for the time-being. Not that I expected you to be going anywhere, anyway. And so you don't get into any more trouble with this sudden downtime you now have... Shikadai, you're going review the individual mission reports and look for anything we missed. Sarada, Mirai has requested some one-on-one training with you, during which I'm sure she will do a thorough job of pointing out why what you did was enormously stupid."

There was a pause, during which they feared that Naruto actually had decided on their punishment already.

Then, he merely said, "Thank you. Get out."

"He didn't seem too mad," Sarada murmured once they were safely in the hallway.

Shikadai shrugged. "Because we got the New Swordsmen, confirmed a link to Boruto, and didn't get kidnapped or killed in the process. He can't be too mad. But make no mistake, he is mad. You should hug him later."

Sarada frowned. "What for?"

"Everyone knows you're his favorite. You doing it will remind him that he didn't lose you. And I'm not gonna do it, that would be weird."

"Are you mad at me?"

Shikadai stared at her. "Nah. I would have done the same thing. Just, slightly less stupidly. We're cool. And now you've got a good story to tell Mitsuki."

Sarada smiled faintly. It didn't last. "It's not over, is it?"

"I very much doubt it."

* * *

Naruto made no secret of the fact that Konoha was holding the New Swordsmen. In fact, he was very up front about it with the Mist, and politely informed them that, once he was sure that the New Swordsmen were not holding back any information that could lead to Boruto, he would be happy to turn them over. He estimated that he would only need three days to question them, if that.

The Mist agreed, but insisted that the New Swordsmen be transferred to them, alive and mostly unharmed, the second the three days were up. Naruto accepted their terms.

Neither defined what all "mostly unharmed" could include, since they knew it would probably be three days before they could manage to agree on anything, so there was little point.

Naruto, in what many thought to be a terribly unwise move, immediately informed the New Swordsmen of the deal. They weren't exactly talking before, and that changed after they learned of the deal. They talked... but it was all insults and taunts, no information.

Naruto endured it all, often in person, for roughly two days and three hours. When he was convinced that he would get nothing else out of them without more pressure, he went to their cell for one last visit.

"Nothing to say?" he asked calmly. "Last chance."

Shizuma grinned at him. "Your brat was weak and he died crying for his mother."

It was nothing he hadn't said already.

Naruto didn't even flinch. "I've been reviewing the reports on you three. I don't know how you gained such strong resistance to Yamanaka mind probes, but we've accepted that trying to get information from you that way is a waste of time. So let's talk about the physical aspect for a moment." He looked at Hebiichigo. "It's a girl, if you didn't know. Quite healthy, too."

Hebiichigo's face twitched, but she stayed silent.

Naruto's head swung to Buntan. "And it's a little early to tell with yours, but we suspect a boy."

None of the three looked surprised, which confirmed what Naruto had suspected.

"You know that we aren't the Bloody Mist. I have no stomach for torturing pregnant women, and I doubt Chojuro does, either. I'm sure I could find someone who does, but I don't think that will be necessary."

"You won't get anything out of us," Shizuma said defiantly.

"Oh, I think I would have to disagree there," Naruto replied, just before he formed a Rasengan in his right hand and neatly sheared off Shizuma's right arm at the shoulder.

It took some effort to be heard over all the screams that followed, but Naruto made sure that he was. "You're a disgrace to the memory of the real Seven Ninja Swordsmen. But that isn't why I'm doing this. I'm doing this because you thought me losing my son was funny. So here's what will happen. My medics are going to come in soon, stop the bleeding and save Shizuma's life. And once they've done that, they're going to take his other arm. And when they've saved him again, they're going to repeat the process, either until they run out of arms to take, or until one of you decides to tell me the truth. And believe me, my medics won't enjoy it. You see, they have to be a lot more careful when they take an arm, so it takes a lot longer. I'll be right outside if anyone decides to get chatty."

Naruto was impressed. They held out until the saw had just begun to draw blood on Buntan's arm. Then Hebiichigo broke, babbling that Buntan had already given up too much, and she couldn't give up her arm, too. Buntan was furious, that was easy to see. But she was also heartbroken and grateful and conflicted. If she had been released just then, Naruto wasn't sure if she would strangle Hebiichigo or kiss her, but he was sure it was one of those, if not both.

All that really mattered was that Hebiichigo told them what the Sound had been telling Naruto, with certainty, for years: that Boruto wasn't dead. Certainly the New Swordsmen hadn't killed him, and of them, only Shizuma had even seen Boruto since he was taken. And then, only long enough to take the necklace. Boruto had been alive enough to spit in his face, but Shizuma hadn't been allowed to damage him.

Naruto was thankful for that much. So for the remaining few hours, Hebiichigo enjoyed the best prenatal care that Konoha could provide. At least, she might have enjoyed it, if she hadn't kept staring at the now armless Shizuma and bursting into tears.

* * *

Shikadai was firmly against transferring the New Swordsmen, and was equally firmly ignored.

Sarada was less vocal, and when she did talk, it was only to say that they had to respect their alliance with the Mist.

Shikadai furiously pointed out that the Mist would be stupid to break the alliance and go to war over three losers that were just going to rot in a Mist prison, anyway.

Sarada just shrugged. Then she made a note of the exact time the prisoners would be leaving the village, and made sure Karin knew. Then she waited.

* * *

By nightfall, the news reached the village: the transfer team had been ambushed. The only casualties had been the prisoners, all of them beheaded on site. The team itself suffered only minor injuries. The attackers wore no village insignia, and used no jutsu that would implicate any village of origin.

The Mist was not pleased, but as Shikadai had estimated, they did not break the alliance or declare war. In fact, all the open hostility seemed contained to their side: there was a very public falling out between Chojuro and Mei, after which Mei decided on an extended vacation in Konoha. It was not an official exile, but she did not have a return date in mind, and Chojuro never asked about her. Mei agreed to become a part-time teacher at the academy, and her lectures on civil war were especially popular. Relations with the Mist became frosty, yet that was preferable to them reaching a boiling point.

Mitsuki returned to Konoha just over a week later. He denied any knowledge of the attack, and seemed genuinely surprised by it.

Naruto would have been shocked if Orochimaru's son, who had been a Sound jonin, wasn't at least that convincing. Nor was he surprised when Mitsuki graciously accepted the rank of chunin. Naruto informed him that any decision to promote him had to come from a majority decision of the other jonin. He would not play favorites this time.

Mitsuki was at least not smug when, three months later, he and Sarada both got promoted. And he still made a point of thanking Naruto, even though they both know that Naruto had no hand in getting the votes.

The team situation never really become one. Sumire, skilled as she was in the field, preferred lab work, but would come if she was needed. There were no hard feelings when Mitsuki replaced her. And Sarada was not so sure of that, until she caught the two of them making out behind a bookstore one evening.

It didn't bother her. Actually, it amused her like nothing else had recently, because Sumire was shy and flustered, and Mitsuki just gave her this look, like, "Why are you being like that? It's _Sarada_. She gets us."

And Sumire was like, "But she was your first kiss!"

And Mitsuki was like, "But she's _Sarada_." Which might have been insulting, if Sarada had not understood that to mean, "Don't be silly, it wasn't that type of kiss, Sarada knows that."

So after Sarada assured Sumire that she wasn't jealous, Mitsuki and Sumire were officially dating, and Sarada was very happy for them. Mostly because she knew that Sumire was unlikely to pursue anyone for the purposes of dating, and Mitsuki already knew and understood that the specter of Boruto would hang over any relationship she was in. But the difference was, he knew that from personal experience and felt exactly the same way. So it was the best possible outcome for them both.

And neither of them pushed Sarada to date, so that was also nice.

* * *

Sarada had not really known what to think, when Nue again dragged her to Sector Jidanda in the middle of the night. But the absolute last thing she expected to see was exactly what awaited her. Mitsuki, Sumire, Shikadai were there. But so were Naruto, Hinata, Himawari, Karin, and Konohamaru. And last of all...

"H-Hey, Sarada. Been a while, huh?"

Sarada stared at him in silence. More specifically, at the unnatural blackness surrounding his eyes.

"Come on, say something!" he begged. "Yell at me! Tell me what an idiot-"

"You're dead," Sarada said softly.

Boruto blinked and sighed. "Well, yeah. Sorry."

She glared at him. "One word can't make up for all the time we lost, idiot."

He grinned. "You don't know how good it is to hear you call me that again."

Sarada grimaced. She didn't like to admit it, but other than being dead, Boruto looked... good. He was in peak shape, or had at least died in peak shape, which was something. She didn't dare to hope that he hadn't been tortured mentally, but he was behaving like himself. And she did not even entertain the idea that Mitsuki might have performed Edo Tensei incorrectly.

"Do you at least know anything about the people who-?"

"Don't trust my body," Boruto said immediately, all humor fading from his tone. "If you ever see it again, destroy it, Sarada. Promise me you will. It won't be me. Don't ever forget that, even for an instant. It won't be me."

* * *

"He's back."

Himawari grew still as a sudden tension settled over the gathered shinobi. Somehow, she already knew what those words meant.

The speaker lowered his binoculars with shaking hands and turned to her with a trembling smile. "Come and look, girl. Your brother has come home."

After a pause, Himawari slowly stood up, moved to the window, and activated her Byakugan. She stared for almost a minute, then swallowed hard. There was no joy in her expression. "Notify the Hokage immediately."

"Of course! We-"

"Tell him we're under attack."

"What? But-"

"Tell him." Himawari glared at the man, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes. "That _thing_ is not my brother. Not anymore."

* * *

It had been given several names over time, as it was painstakingly developed, adjusted, and perfected. But the one it had come to prefer, above all others, had been the first.

Prodigal slowed to stop just inches before the invisible barrier that surrounded Konoha. This was not strictly necessary, as it had a viable password. But that was just one of the ways it could enter, and it preferred a more... permanent method.

It stretched out its right hand, watching with interest as a multitude of lines of tiny, black text crawled over its pale skin like ants. It pressed the hand against the barrier, and waited.

The barrier shimmered, then shuddered. Then it began to collapse, as the powerful seals etched into Prodigal's skin increased their suction, drawing the entirety of the barrier into its palm.

The whole process took less than a minute.

Prodigal flexed its fingers, making a noise of interest as it watched the text fade back into its skin. Then it took a step forward.

The girl appeared in its path at once.

"Himawari," Prodigal said, almost crooned, in a passable imitation of Boruto's voice.

"You're not my brother," Himawari snapped. "You just have his body."

Prodigal's smile faded. "You are well-informed. It will do you no good. I would not be here now, if I did not have the power to deal with all of you." He glanced at her hands and smirked. "You should not have used your Gentle Fist to incapacitate your comrades. Now they will be unable to assist you."

"Now they won't die at your hands," Himawari corrected. "They aren't your target, are they?"

"No," he agreed. "But you must have guessed that you are."

Himawari said nothing, but shifted into a battle stance.

"You will die," he said, not as a warning, but merely stating a fact.

"You probably thought the same thing about my brother. But his will lives on through me, just as mine will through others."

"Then I just may have to kill everyone you ever met."

"You won't get the chance," Himawari said, and then she threw herself at him, becoming a storm of lightning-fast, feather-soft, crippling strikes.

* * *

When Naruto first saw the black Rasengan pulsing in Prodigal's hand, his immediate thought was, "Definitely don't get hit by that." Visibly black chakra in general was a rare sight, and it almost never meant anything good.

This time was no exception.

He avoided the first one, but the volley that followed were trickier. And through it all, Naruto had to keep up a mental mantra. "He's not my son." But this helped almost as much as it hurt, because while Prodigal was not Boruto, he very obviously knew each and every jutsu Boruto had, and had improved on nearly all of them. So while their fighting styles were completely different, the fact remained that the best and worst choices to take Prodigal down, would be the ones who knew Boruto best.

Not that Naruto planned for Prodigal to escape him, that is. He fully intended for no one else to need to face Prodigal. No one else needed to die for the village... like Himawari had.

Naruto's gaze hardened as he countered Prodigal's black Rasengan with a blue one of his own, flicking his gaze across Prodigal's body. There had been large black marks across his exposed skin, no doubt where Himawari had, instead of simply closing his chakra points, had forced in her chakra and detonated it. She had done this in enough key areas where Prodigal's chakra network should have been crippled.

The problem was, Prodigal showed no signs of that being the case. Either he was drawing chakra from some source other than his body, or it wasn't chakra powering his jutsu at all. Naruto knew he could use Sage Mode to find out exactly where the energy was coming from, but didn't dare so close to Prodigal, who had already proven capable of absorbing chakra through physical contact. In fact, he was beginning to suspect that Prodigal didn't need contact at all, merely to be within range of a target's chakra. Which meant taijutsu was impossible, ninjutsu was largely a bad idea, and genjutsu could likely be yanked out of the air itself. Handing senjutsu to a monster like that could only worsen the situation. And Naruto had no doubt that this monster had been created for the sole purpose of killing him.

It happened so abruptly that Naruto had no time to react. Prodigal, who had thus far been doing everything in his power to get close to Naruto and steal more chakra, did the absolute last thing Naruto would have expected. He blew Naruto back several feet with a powerful gust of wind. Powerful, but by no means meant to kill. Not by itself, at least. Naruto didn't even leave his feet.

And Prodigal was grinning like a madman.

Naruto didn't understand, until he felt the abrupt suction in the area of his chest, looked down and saw the until then tiny black Rasengan, which had been hidden in the gust, instantly expand. It didn't drill through him. What it did instead was so much worse. What Naruto had mistaken for black chakra peeled apart and flowed over his skin like ink.

"You can put living seals into your jutsu?" Naruto gasped.

"Don't worry," Prodigal said, grinning wider as the first of Kurama's chakra began to appear around Naruto in a hazy red aura. "I won't let it destroy the village. I want the pleasure of doing that myself."

* * *

With every priority target that he downed, Prodigal grew more bold, more reckless. He felt no pain from his injuries, because his makers had determined that pain was something he had no use for. And his injuries were also no hindrance: in the rare event that something could damage his body, the damage was repaired in a manner of minutes. The seals woven into his body were constantly at work, and even he did not understand exactly how they worked, what all they were capable of. But he knew all he needed to: they could not be extracted from him, and so long as he had them, nothing could stop him.

By the time he neared the Hokage Tower, he was using the excess chakra to launch himself several feet forward with every step. He was only lashing out at some of the shinobi launching projectiles at him. Most of them didn't hurt, and only the exploding tags and bombs were truly distracting. With his next target in sight, he gripped his stomach, and was immediately surrounded by a blood-red aura that forced many shinobi to freeze in shock, either having no idea what it was, or knowing exactly what it was, and what his having it must have meant.

Laughing loudly, Prodigal launched himself at the Hokage Tower, striking the base with the force of a bomb. He was tempted to stay there, to bask in the descruction as the entire structure collapsed on top of him, just to test the limits of his body's endurance. But there was still work to be done, and more fun to be had.

But as he was leaping out of the falling tower, something snagged his leg and yanked him roughly backwards, leaving him in the perfect position for his initial desire to come true: floor after floor after floor of the Hokage Tower fell directly on top of him.

He smiled.

Once he was able to stand and spot his attacker, he understood.

"You aren't one of my targets, Karin," Prodigal said, admiring the glowing chains extending from her back. "I have more than enough Uzumaki DNA already. But if you want to tell me where Sarada and Mitsuki are, and save me the trouble of hunting them down myself, I might spare you."

Karin snorted. "As if I would betray them, so you can turn them into abominations like you."

"In that case, I have no reason to keep you alive, and you're in my way."

Prodigal launched himself at her, in no way surprised when her chains seized him and tightened, slamming him roughly to the ground. But he grinned as he saw the visible strain on her face.

"It's a race now," he said. "Your chains are especially good at restraining tailed beasts, and I am using the power of one now. But my body can absorb any and every type of chakra." The red aura around him stuttered and winked out, but Prodigal seized a length of chain, smirking in satisfaction as it crumbled in his grip. "You can't win. I don't need the fox's power to beat anyone left in this village."

"Who said I was trying to win?" More chains shot from Karin's back, and though the force they struck him with did no damage, he was unable to knock them all away, and one snagged around his leg again, yanking his foot out from under him. Lying on his back, Prodigal was about to tell her, again, that her struggles were pointless. But then he noticed something rapidly descending from the sky. It was red, enormous, and on fire.

"RASENGAN HELL!"

Recognizing the voice, Prodigal threw up his hands to catch and absorb the attack, only to frown at the feel of the chakra he pulled in. "Genjutsu," he muttered.

"Of course it is."

Prodigal blinked, finally taking notice of the four swords that had been slammed into his body and were pinning him to the ground. Then he noticed the people who had put them there, gathering around him. "Mitsuki. Shikadai. Sarada. And we can't forget Mirai. How nice of you all to show yourselves. Most of you are my targets, so this helps me a great deal."

"You really want to stop talking," Shikadai advised, glaring at him.

"That's exactly what I don't want to do," Prodigal replied. "I'm enjoying that you can't do a thing to stop me. Telling you that only reinforces the point and makes you suffer more. Why would I ever stop?"

"I was thinking I'd regret the fact that I'll probably have to saw your head off to stop you," Mirai muttered, raising her trench knives. "But now I think I might enjoy it."

"I'm honestly not sure how well that would work," Prodigal admitted. "Not that I plan to just lay here and give you the chance." He opened his mouth wide and flexed his tongue, causing a rapidly spinning ball of black to form.

"GET BACK!" Sarada shouted, even as Mitsuki's arms extended several feet and brushed the others aside. The ball hit him directly in the chest, sending him flying across the street and slamming hard into a wall. He was dazed, but shook it off as he watched another chakra ball form above Prodigal. This time, however, it rapidly expanded, completely enveloping his body.

"Is he trying to destroy himself?" Mirai asked.

"No," Shikadai said. "He couldn't pull the swords out, so he's destroying them the only way he can. Either his own chakra won't hurt him, or he'll just absorb it back in before it can."

Shikadai was soon proven right: the black chakra ball vanished a moment later, revealing Prodigal back on his feet, standing in a crater. There was no trace of the swords left.

"I am sick of looking at that thing," Mirai decided. "I want him gone from our village."

Prodigal noticed at once when both Sarada and Mitsuki began to approach him, each with a Rasengan in both hands. The contrast was an interesting one to him. Sarada's fire-based Rasengan were picture-perfect, a shining example of her chakra control. She had even compressed them slightly, no doubt to increase their explosive capacity. But Mitsuki's lightning-based Rasengan were the exact opposite: trembling with barely suppressed power, as if they wanted nothing more than to detonate in his own hands. They were quite sloppy, in Prodigal's mind, but it was a credit to Mitsuki's power and control that they did not simply explode or fall apart.

Then, an instant before they did it, he realized what they would do.

It wouldn't work. But he still wanted to see it.

Not that he could see much, because Mirai suddenly spewed an enormous black cloud at him.

* * *

Naruto had never bothered to teach the Rasenshuriken to anyone.

There had never been any point.

Even attempting it required massive amounts of chakra, which was rare enough. Attempting it safely required senjutsu, which was rarer still. Really, only a jinchuriki proficient in senjutsu should have even bothered. And no jinchuriki that Naruto had ever met showed any interest in learning it. He had never decided if they knew a futile pursuit when they saw it, or if they just weren't insane enough to want to learn.

Boruto would have wanted to learn. Naruto wouldn't have agreed to teach him, but that wasn't the point.

The point was that Naruto wasn't going to have any part in teaching a kid a jutsu that was more likely to destroy or cripple them before they found an appropriate situation to use it in.

Although he admitted to being tempted, briefly, when he learned that Mitsuki could use senjutsu.

Sarada never asked to learn. Naruto was sure that, being Sakura's daughter, Sarada was all too aware of the risks, and correctly assumed that Naruto would never teach her.

A smart shinobi would have left the matter there.

A daring shinobi, however, would have found their own solution. And when the mood suited her, Sarada was more daring than she was smart. Possibly as a tribute to Boruto.

Sarada's solution was a collaboration Rasengan: the Firestorm Rasengan.

That day when Sarada and Mitsuki ran up to him, singed and filthy, eager to show off what they could do, he never would have guessed what they wanted to show him. He had been proud enough when they each managed a working Rasengan and combined it with their preferred chakra nature, using little more than the haphazard instructions that Boruto had left for them.

But the second they threw their Rasengan at each other, Naruto had instinctively hit the dirt. He watched, amazed, as Mitsuki's lightning Rasengan seemed to reach out via a single lightning bolt, and latch onto Sarada's fire Rasengan. Repeated trials had shown that this was always the case, so long as the two were even remotely close to each other.

Then they came together, fused, and exploded after a slight delay, incinerating anything caught in the considerable blast radius.

Naruto was never sure how they calculated the range without destroying themselves, but they got it right every time, even if they couldn't explain how. They had even come up with several creative ways to flee before the explosion: substitutions, Sarada channelling bursts of fire through her feet for propulsion, Mitsuki elongating his arms to grab Sarada and yank her to safety.

It was the sort of jutsu that would only work (or at least, only not kill you) with someone you had total faith in.

After that first demonstration, Naruto had stood up, looked at them, shook his head slightly, and muttered, "You kids are monsters."

In their eyes, he had never given them higher praise.

And if Naruto was expecting Mirai to school them on the proper use, then he was simultaneously disappointed and very much amused when he came across the three of them, their heads together, as Mirai discussed the possibility of increasing the destructive power with a gunpoweder cloud beforehand.

* * *

Prodigal laughed as he burned. They were so amusing, these friends of Boruto. If he had known they would be this much fun, he would have come for them years ago.

The inferno around him was indeed doing a fantastic job of damaging his body. But the power dwelling within him was doing an even more fantastic job of putting him back together. And it was a simple matter to absorb chakra from the attack, only increasing his reserves further.

There truly was no way they could defeat him.

Once the explosion died down and the smoke began to clear, he wondered what the best way to greet them would be. And then something greeted him, in the form of an enormous, tiger-striped creature leaping at him with its fangs bared.

Prodigal chuckled. "Hello, Nue. But what exactly do you think you-"

Nue opened its mouth, revealing something Prodigal had never seen before: a white Rasenshuriken with a tiny, pale blue core. It was, quite obviously from the feel of the chakra, something that Naruto had a hand in. But it wasn't just his. There was something different about this attack, something... wrong.

Even so, Prodigal raised his hands and caught the Rasenshuriken when Nue spat it at him, certain that his body could handle it. And as he began to strip away the chakra of the attack, he found out exactly what was wrong.

There was an energy within the attack that he did not, could not recognize. His body was supposed to be able to absorb every known chakra and energy type.

But his makers had never said anything about an unknown type, which this was. And since his body could not recognize it, his body could not absorb it.

"Impossible," Prodigal whispered, even as the Rasenshuriken's whine increased in volume, and the attack exploded in his face.

* * *

Naruto had been sleeping peacefully in his hospital room, but grunted as something warm collapsed across his chest. Though his eyes stayed shut, he recognized the traces of chakra he could just barely sense. "Sumire?"

"Your idea worked!" she gasped happily. "The Ethereal Rasenshuriken beat him!"

"Great," Naruto sighed. "Good girl. Knew you could handle it. You made me very proud today."

"Nue did all the hard stuff, really." Sumire paused. "W-Why... why aren't you up yet?"

"About that." Naruto coughed loudly. "He pulled Kurama and the other tailed beast fragments out of me, so that sucked. And if that attack worked the way I think it did, then Kurama's probably gone. He'll be back, of course, but no time soon. Not soon enough to save me."

"N-No!" Sumire gasped. "You _can't_ die!"

"I think I'm allowed," Naruto chuckled weakly. "But listen, Sumire. I don't have much time left. If I'm wrong, and Kurama isn't gone, and they find a way to... I don't know, gather him up somehow?"

"Yes?"

"Under no circumstances are they to create a jinchuriki. And if anyone even thinks of volunteering Karin for the job against her will? Kill them."

Sumire gaped at him. "W-What?"

"Kill them," Naruto repeated firmly. "Well, not really, but make it so it's clear that I said no way, no how, not happening."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're here. Because you won't ignore it. But mostly, because it needs to be said. There's going to be a power vacuum, and that is when the craziest ideas start to surface. We aren't going to be that way anymore. Make sure Karin knows, too."

"I won't let you down!" Sumire promised, bowing and turning to leave.

"One more thing before you go," Naruto called out. "I know you said you didn't want to be promoted, but I can't overlook that you handled a Rasenshuriken and didn't blow yourself up. So as far as I'm concerned, you're a special jonin now. With a space-time ninjutsu focus. Got it?"

"Y-Yes," she murmured weakly before fleeing the room.

"You don't think that was too much pressure on her, do you?" Sakura asked as she entered the room.

"Maybe just enough," Naruto sighed. "And if you think that was too much pressure, you're going to hate what I'm about to ask you to do."

Sakura smiled sadly. "I would gladly manually keep your heart beating again, if more time was all we needed. But you did order me not to. You almost never pull rank on me, and you choose now, of all times?"

"And you choose now, of all times, to listen to me without complaint? First time for everything, huh, Sakura-chan?"

She glared at him. "Naruto. Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?"

"It's not about what I want. I've lived a long, full life. In part because of you, so don't act like I haven't. It was a good run. Made a lot of good friends, helped a lot of people, met my dead parents, lived my dream, got to see a bunch of bratty kids grow up."

"Mine included?"

"You said it, not me."

Sakura laughed. "True. She's going to miss you like crazy, you know."

"Sarada is a tough cookie. Sweet and strong, just like her mom. She'll manage."

"Dammit, Naruto," Sakura muttered, wiping tears from her eyes. "Stop talking like that."

"Okay. Listen, I really do need a favor, and you really are going to hate it, but not as much as Sarada is."

"Name it," Sakura said.

"I need you to look after Hinata. First we lost Boruto, and now Himawari. She'll need you-"

"Of course," Sakura said impatiently, "you don't even have to ask. But why would I hate that?"

"I kinda need you to look at after Hinata... and the rest of the village, for a while."

Sakura stared down at him in mild disbelief. "Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you just kinda sorta make me the next Hokage?"

"Did you just kinda sorta not run away, and confirm that you heard the appointment, thus signifying your agreeing to it?"

"Wait, what?!"

"Too late, you're Hokage now, have the hat!"

Sakura automatically caught the hat he tossed at her. "Naruto, you can't be serious!"

"Come on, Sakura-chan! Time to do your master proud and continue her noble work! Heal the village, a medic in eery team, all that good stuff!"

"You had better be joking!"

"I'm on my deathbed, Sakura-chan. If I was joking, it would either be immediately obvious or incredibly corny. I haven't got time for subtlety." He paused. "Mirai, you heard everything, right?" he called to to the door. "You're my witness."

"Sure, boss," Mirai called back. Sakura, for one, heard the smile in Mirai's voice, and did not appreciate it at all.

* * *

The mood in Sector Jidanda was tense but oddly positive. The village was safe, but their Hokage was dying. Although in pure Uzumaki fashion, he was taking his sweet time about it, and annoying a fair amount of people in the process with his deathbed declarations. The most important of these had not been made public yet, so while everyone knew a new Hokage would be needed, only a handful of people knew one had already been selected, against her will. None of the latter were in Sector Jidanda, or else the mood would have been quite different, at least for one person.

"He actually said that to you?" Sarada asked.

Sumire nodded. "Yes. I immediately went to Karin-san and told her."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing. She just kind of glared at me."

"That's no way to treat the savior of the village. I'll have to talk to her."

Sumire blushed bright red. "Please don't! I don't want-"

Sarada took Sumire's hand and squeezed it. "You are, you know. You saved us all. You and Nue. Nobody else could have done that. And I really mean that. I'm still not entirely sure what it is that you did in the first place."

Sumire sighed, the red fading from her face as she shifted into lecture mode. "Nue not only absorbs chakra from others, he can also blend it with his own to make new... flavors, I like to call it. Flavors no one has ever seen before. And given enough time, some of these flavors sort of... age into entirely new forms. All I did was combine some of those with the Rasenshuriken that Nanadaime-sama's clone gave me-"

"He gave it to you?" Sarada asked blankly.

"Well, um, he gave it to Nue, who held onto it while I added the flavoring. Nue blended them and made sure the mixture didn't explode or collapse."

Sarada shook her head. "Nue managed to do that despite never handling a Rasenshuriken before?"

Sumire blushed again. "Um, where did you get that idea? Nue has. Handled one before, I mean."

"When?!"

"Did you actually think Nanadaime-sama would just hand a Rasenshuriken to someone who had never handled one before? That would be _crazy_ , Sarada."

Sarada could not help the slight jealousy she felt, although she knew perfectly well that she lacked a chakra-eating monster summon who followed her every command. "I guess you were right all along. You were able to give Boruto exactly what he needed, in the end."

The blush returned full force, but faded quickly. "I'm happy I was able to grant his wish. But Mitsuki understands me, in a way I don't think Boruto would bother to try to. Boruto accepted me, but he would deal with the darkness in me by saying it was part of my past and didn't matter anymore. Mitsuki doesn't ignore it that way. If anything, he wants to help me understand it."

"And does that help?" Sarada asked. "Isn't it painful?"

Sumire smiled. "Yes to both. But I couldn't rediscover Nue's full form and true potential until I understood him more. And the key to that understanding was in my past. If I had ignored it simply because it hurt to revisit it, we never could have done what we did today."

"And how is Nue?"

"A little banged up and completely exhausted, but resting." Her lips twitched, as if she couldn't decide between a smile or a frown. "I guess it's a good thing I won't be asking him to handle a Rasenshuriken ever again?"

Sarada winced. "Sumire, if you-" She trailed off as the door slid open.

Karin walked in, looking very grumpy. She was followed closely by Tenten, who looked nearly as grumpy. Sarada did not think this had anything to do with Naruto, though.

"Sarada-chan, I need you to come with me," Karin said. Then she paused. "I guess Sumire can come, too, since I'm suddenly so damn vulnerable that I can't even-"

"Karin," Tenten said sharply. "You know that's not what-"

"Didn't ask you," Karin snapped.

Tenten sighed. "Girls, we are in a hurry here."

Sarada tensed at once. "Is it Nanadaime?"

Tenten smiled faintly. "Still hanging in there, last I checked. He's stubborn that way, you know that. No, this comes directly from your mother. She sent Karin to get you. And due to... _reasons_ , I had to come to."

"What _reasons_?" Sarada asked immediately.

"We're not supposed to say," Tenten admitted. "Not yet. But it's nothing, well... too bad. No one's in any obvious danger, anyway."

Karin rolled her eyes. "Really doing a great job of reassuring her."

"Does this have anything to do with someone trying to change Karin's... status?"

Karin frowned and said, "No."

Tenten frowned and said, "Yes."

Sarada's eyes widened.

"It's not what you think," Karin said quickly.

"It's not _exactly_ what you think," Tenten corrected. "Certain people would like it very much if Karin would swear loyalty to Konoha, just in case. That's... well, not all, but the main reason why Sakura would prefer that Karin have a... _friend_ at all times."

Sarada scowled. "You mean guard."

"I mean _friend_ ," Tenten insisted. "I know very well that she doesn't need a guard."

"Mama isn't usually so paranoid."

"She has a lot on her mind right now, and she'd rather not get any bad surprises. So, Karin gets a _friend_ , and for now it's me."

"Why are you making it sound like Mama has any say in this? What does Nanadaime say?"

Tenten winced, and Karin snorted. "You really need to come with us, Sarada," Tenten said. "Your mother can explain better than we can."

* * *

Sarada had seen Naruto look tired before, but this was different. He looked positively exhaused now, and much thinner, yet remained in good spirits. He'd been transferred from his hospital room to the spare room at home where he'd spent many late nights. Hinata was not quite fussing over him, but they did seem much more affectionate with each other than Sarada had seen in a very long time.

As if that was not strange enough, Sarada was bothered by the presence of her own parents. Sure, they were Naruto's closest friends, but as far as she knew, her father had been nowhere near the village when Prodigal attacked. In fact, she suspected he'd been out searching for the people who had created Prodigal. Surely he hadn't found them, the timing was too convenient.

By now, it was common knowledge that Naruto was dying, and that the best they could do was slow down the process, but not stop it. Even so, Sakura kept checking Naruto's pulse every few minutes, and he endured this with amusement, though he looked tempted to point out that she only needed her eyes to see that he wasn't dead just yet.

Sarada could not honestly say why she or Sumire were there, other than perhaps Naruto wanted to say goodbye. It was nice to be a priority to him, but she thought he had more important issues to deal with at the moment.

"As nice as it is to have everyone here, there's some business to conduct," Naruto announced. "Sarada, I'm going to need two favors from you."

Sarada blinked. "Okay?"

"I need you to try to be okay with the fact that your mom totally stole your dream."

"Na-ru-to!" Sakura growled.

"Okay, okay. But seriously, don't be too mad at her. It's just that the title of Hokage has certain expectations, and advanced age is sort of preferred. Honestly, I only got away with it because I'm awesome like that, and Kakashi has always looked old, and I don't need to tell you about Tsunade baa-chan, so there you go."

This did not do anything to lessen Sakura's anger, naturally, but Sarada found that the humor did take some of the sting out of it. And if she were quite honest, she wasn't ready to be Hokage, yet.

"Is there a rule that I can't be Hokage after her?" Sarada asked.

"Technically, no," Naruto said. "Although it might be tricky. It might work out better if someone else was Hokage before you."

"Then I'm not mad," Sarada decided. "What's the second favor?"

"I need you and Sumire to go meet an old friend of mine. She's waiting just outside the village, so that she doesn't startle anyone."

Sarada stared at him. "Why would she-?"

"You'll know when you see her. But it's really important and somewhat time-sensitive, so leaving now would be great."

"Are you trying to get rid of us?"

Naruto pouted. "Of course not. I can think of no better way to leave this life, surrounded by a group of lovely ladies... and Sasuke. But this really does need to get done. You'd be doing me a huge favor, and saving your mom a potential headache later on. And since I know you're already thinking it, if I die while you're doing this favor, trust me, you'll be the first people outside of this room to know."

* * *

As it turned out, Naruto had not been misleading them. He did indeed have an older, female friend waiting just outside of the village, and Sarada could understand how her appearance would have startled most people.

He had neglected to mention, however, that his old friend was Matatabi, the Two Tails. Nor had he revealed that he apparently he spent a great deal of time chatting up the tailed beasts about his subordinates. Sarada had found few things so unnerving as the fact that Matatabi was able both to recognize them, and greet them by name. Still, it was probably for the best that Matatabi was familiar with them, because it meant she was not at all aggressive or suspicious of them. Which, according to her, she had good reason to be in the case of anyone with a Sharingan, but said that was a story for another time.

No, the most pressing concerns were the death of her brother Kurama (which she honestly seemed more amused than concerned by, but then, he wouldn't be gone forever), and the impending death of Naruto. Sarada had known that Naruto was Kurama's jinchuriki, but she hadn't realized that he was also effectively a jinchuriki of all the other tailed beasts, to a small extent, and that his body served as a nexus for their occasional meetings. Which was a problem, now that he was dying: they needed a new nexus. But Sarada was quick to point out that Naruto was in no shape to go and find one, and in fact was strongly against a new jinchuriki being created at all.

Matatabi smiled patiently and shook her head. "But we are not seeking to create a jinchuriki. Only a new nexus. There is no need for any sealing whatsoever. That is why Naruto specifically banned the creation of a jinchuriki: because it would be entirely unnessecary. In any case, there is already a jinchuriki among us. We only require a nexus."

"And Killer B can't be the nexus?" Sarada asked.

"He can, but we have decided it would be best to select someone younger than him. We would rather not have to go through this process again so soon. We are all quite satisfied with the new candidate."

Sarada blinked. "Wait. You already have someone in mind?"

"Yes." Matatabi nodded at Sumire. "Her."

"M-Me?!" Sumire squeaked.

"You, kitten," Matatabi purred. "Naruto has informed us of your potential, and how skillfully you handle Nue. You will be an excellent nexus for us. Allow to show you one of the benefits." One of Matatabi's tails extended and lightly touched Sumire's forehead. At once, Nue appeared at her side in his full-sized form. He was still asleep, however.

"H-How did you do that?" Sumire gasped.

"As I said, this is a benefit of being our nexus. We are basically each giving you a small portion of our chakra, and we don't mind if you use it from time to time for Nue's benefit. You should have no further problems calling forth his full form. So if you were worried that we might negatively impact your bond with him, we will not. In fact, that bond is the very reason we chose you. And, actually, since it will be some time until Kurama returns, Nue can keep his seat among us warm. He won't be as powerful as Kurama, but he's already proven capable of protecting your village."

"D-Do I have to do anything?" Sumire asked.

"You may have the occasional odd dream after one of our meetings, but other than that, it's not really a big adjustment. Oh, but you'll have to sit on my head when I introduce you to the others. And you'll need to learn all of our names, too. But don't worry. There's a song and everything."

* * *

Sarada always had one thought when she stared out of her office at the Hokage Rock: "Did they have to make my face look so _fat_?" She was the only one who felt that way, apparently, or perhaps no one else had the nerve to admit it to her face.

Becoming Hokage was nothing like she'd thought it would be. Always, when she imagined that day, she was surrounded by her family and friends. Not a single person was absent.

The reality was decidedly different.

More and more often now, Sarada's eyes were drawn to the framed photo of Team Kakashi that she kept hanging just beneath the Hokage portraits. No one had really been able to protest, since it was also technically a Hokage portrait. Sarada had caught herself talking to the photo so many times that she no longer bothered to hide it from anyone. She didn't care if it caused rumors. There was no shame in her feelings for those people, and she wouldn't allow anyone to suggest that there should be.

Smiling faintly, she brushed her fingers along the photo's frame. "Papa. Mama. Rokudaime. Nanadaime. I really did it. Just like I promised," she murmured. "It's all thanks to what you taught me. I won't forget."

A knock at the door drew her attention. Sarada turned to see Chocho standing in the doorway. "Hi. Is it time to go already?"

Chocho crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. "Have you ever known an Akimichi who got dinner plans wrong?"

"Right, sorry. I'm coming."

"You look distracted, Sarada."

"Do I?" Sarada shook her head as she followed Chocho out of the office. "Just nostalgia, I guess."

"Good or bad?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

* * *

Sarada did not have the time or patience for therapy sessions, nor did she want to hold a grudge against any Yamanaka for peering into her mind, so she had found a much preferred compromise: bi-monthly dinners with friends. They allowed her to vent her frustrations among trusted companions, while also forcing her to endure some good-natured teasing, and as a bonus updated to goings-on that a Hokage might overlook otherwise.

Sumire hosted at her house this time around, which allowed the focus to remain on her: how romantic Mitsuki was, how he'd proposed, why Sumire was dragging her feet about setting a wedding date, if she would need a maternity wedding dress when that day finally came. That last one came from Karin, who despite being able to sense virtually anyone in the village (or maybe even because she could), had walked in on Sumire and Mitsuki during rather intimate moments no less than six times in recent memory alone.

And through the whispers and laughter and tears, Sarada found her eyes drawn to Karin's hair, now a pale pink with streaks of white here and there. Not for the first time, Sarada wondered, if her parents had been blessed with Uzumaki vitality as Karin was, would they have survived to see her reach her dream? There was no guarantee, of course: Hinata had died only two years after Naruto, of a broken heart most still believed, and if anyone should have had Uzumaki vitality, it was Naruto's kids.

And if anyone should have died despite that famed vitality, it was Karin, who had reserved a spot so close to her jugular for Sarada alone to bite, and that Sarada had been forced to bite so often, that it was a minor miracle both of them still lived. They were under no illusions: Karin would never make her feel guilty about that, and so Sarada always heaped the guilt on herself. Karin was a treasured friend who was happy to save her, not a lifeline to be abused as needed. But there had been too many times when the line blurred enough that Sarada hated herself for crossing it, and yes, even hated Karin for not mentioning that it had been crossed.

But still Karin stood faithfully by her side, without complaint or restraint, and to remain in Sarada's life meant accepting that first and foremost. It was Karin who held Sarada when she cried her heart out over losing another precious person to the perils of shinobi life. It was Karin who kept her deepest, darkest secrets. And it was Karin, who had cheered the loudest, in place of her late parents, the day that Sarada became Hokage.

It was no exagerration to say that Sarada had only made it this far because of Karin. If for no other reason than her healing chakra and willingness to let Sarada abuse it.

There was no amount of gratitude that could accurately express Sarada's feelings, and always Karin said it wasn't needed, anyway. But that was who Karin was. And who Sarada was, was someone who had lost enough precious people, and could not allow the most important surviving one to feel neglected or unappreciated. And yet there was no gift that Karin valued above simple hugs and kisses from Sarada, which in turn never seemed like enough repayment to Sarada.

* * *

"Is she pregnant?" Sarada asked the moment they were a good distance away from Sumire's house.

"Who?" Karin asked blankly, doing an admirable job of feigning ignorance.

Sarada pouted. "You know who I mean!"

"No, I don't," Karin replied blandly. "You have to be more specific."

Sarada opened her mouth, paused, and frowned. "Was there more than one pregnant woman in the house tonight?"

"Nope, just the one."

"Just-? Then you did know who I meant!" Sarada snapped.

"Could have meant any of them. Could have meant you, honestly."

Sarada raised her eyebrows. "No, I couldn't, either. You would have me dragged me out of the house to tell me something that big. And then threatened to strangle whoever did it."

"Damn right," Karin snorted. "So... yeah, Sumire's pregnant. And it's much too early for pregnancy brain to be the reason that she apparently forgot that I'm a sensor."

"Maybe she's just distracted," Sarada suggested. "Thinking up baby names, or what kind of parents they'll be."

"Or trying to hide it from her friends because she's embarrassed," Karin added. "Which is silly, they'll be thrilled."

"And we have to play along, until she decides to tell us."

"Do we?" Karin asked mildly. "When have I ever held my tongue around her or Mitsuki?"

"Which is why this would be an excellent time to start," Sarada said firmly.

"Yeah, no. Not doing that. I don't mind that they're having a kid, but I do mind being expected to play dumb about it. Do you really think Mitsuki is going to want to keep it secret once he finds out?"

"No, but he's Mitsuki, and he isn't the one that's pregnant."

"Okay, so then what if I just tell him?" Karin offered.

"That's even worse! I'm sure Sumire wants to tell him, she's just being her usual self."

"She's been in his pants and his bed, there's no point being shy about it now!"

Sarada blushed slightly and lowered her voice. "I heard Hinata was the same way right after she got married."

"You heard from who?"

"Hanabi. And she might have been kidding, but she seemed to enjoy telling me way too much at the time."

"Probably true then," Karin said with a nod. "But still no excuse. It's too late to be shy with a bun in the oven. I'll give Sumire one more day to tell Mitsuki, and then I'm spilling the beans. Instead of wasting time not telling him, she should be making plans with him."

Sarada sighed. "I guess that's fair. Mitsuki is going to be so thrilled! I wonder why she wouldn't tell him right away?"

"Lost her nerve, maybe. Or she thinks he won't be happy. Weird things go through your mind, when you've got a little person in you."

"H-How... would you know that?" Sarada asked warily.

Karin rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I told you: your mom and I traveled together while she was pregnant with you. The stuff that came out of her mouth at times... if I hadn't met her before that, it would have been a horrible first impression. Anyway, stuff you know isn't true or likely suddenly seems reasonable, when you're like that. So maybe what Sumire needs is a level-headed friend to give her a little push."

"A push, _not_ a hard shove, Karin. Can you at least be delicate?"

"Not really my style, you know that. Though, if you want to tell him, I'll leave it to you. So long as you do it tomorrow."

Sarada glared at her. "Fine, you do it. That way I can comfort Sumire when she's mad at you."

"She'll forgive me. She's going to need a godmother."

"And you really think it'll be _you_? What about me?"

"You're Hokage. You're everyone's godmother. Nobody's going to make you official."

Sarada scowled, in part because Karin was probably right. She liked to think that she and Sumire were much closer than they had been, but she was not at all confident that the job of godmother wouldn't go to Chocho instead. And if Mitsuki had any say in it, Karin would almost certainly be picked.

"Do you ever regret it?" Karin asked abruptly. "Not having kids?"

"No," Sarada said after a pause. "I never found the right guy. And even if I had, I don't think I could be a wife, mother, and Hokage at the same time. Someone would feel shortchanged somewhere, and I wouldn't be able to make it up to them enough for them to feel any differently."

Unsaid went the implication that Sarada had already found the right guy, but that he was long dead. Karin had tried pointing this out, many times, but there was no reason for it now. Even if Sarada still talked to them occasionally, she was done chasing ghosts anymore. Best to leave it alone.

"Hey, Karin?" Sarada murmured, taking her arm.

"Yeah?"

"I don't say it enough, but... I'm really glad you're here with me."

"Where else would I be?"

"No, I mean... I'm glad you're _still_ here with me."

Karin processed this slowly. "I see." And then, before Sarada could add anything else, Karin cut her off with, "I owe you an apology."

Sarada blinked. "For what?"

Karin looked as if she didn't want to say, but finally did. "When Naruto wouldn't give me permission to go looking for Boruto. I should have pushed harder. Either until he gave in, or I should have just gone no matter what he said."

"Karin, you know that would have been a bad-"

"But I _would_ have found him," Karin insisted. "Do you really think I would have stopped looking until I did? Or that I would ever come back without him?" She stared into Sarada's eyes. "Do you really think I didn't know how important he was to you?"

Sarada swallowed hard. "Even so, Nanadaime-"

"Would have gotten over it once he had his son back." Karin squeezed Sarada's arm. "If I had done that, Boruto might still be with you right now. But I didn't, and I'm sorry, Sarada."

"I never blamed you for that."

"You _should_ have. I _could_ have found him. I _would_ have found him. There's no doubt in my mind at all. If I ever believed in fate, it was my fate to be here at a time when they needed someone with my exact ability to find Boruto. And because I didn't use it, he was lost to us. That's on me. Not Naruto. Just me."

"Karin, stop it. I don't want to hear this now."

"Maybe you need to, if you still don't get it, Sarada. I've been thinking about this for a long time, and you need to know something."

"What?"

"I've figured something out about being Hokage, Sarada. It requires you to sacrifice the people most precious to you for the sake of the village. But the job doesn't work the other way around. People who would sacrifice the village for their precious ones? They might be called a lot of things, but Hokage isn't one of them." Karin paused to let that sink in. "Boruto was your test. If you had gotten him back, at the cost of your ninja career, you could never be Hokage. But you were able to let him go when you had to."

"I didn't let him go, though. I told you about that mission-"

"The one where your team was only minutes behind you. That doesn't count. I'm talking about falling off the grid, staying out of contact for days or more, people thinking you're dead or worse because that's the only thing that should keep you from letting them know you're still alive. You never did that, because if you had, I would have hunted you down and given you hell for worrying me like that. You passed the test, Sarada, by sacrificing your friend."

Sarada shook her head. "It wasn't like that at all, Karin."

"You still don't see," Karin sighed. "We'll try this the other way."

"What are you-" Sarada began to say, but then the world began to spin.

* * *

"How many times do I have to do this?" Boruto muttered, running his hands through his hair. "I already told you _everything_!"

"One last time, son," Naruto said. "Please. I know you just want to sleep-"

"I don't want to sleep. I want to be in my room again and just... be there. And know I'm home."

"Okay. We can do this there, if you want."

"No," Boruto said sharply. "I'll do it here. There's no point going there if I still have to do this. I'm trying to get _away_ from this."

"Do you want anyone else in here with us?"

"Anyone I would want here, I don't want them hearing this from me."

Naruto smiled faintly. "Your mother is tougher than you think. If you want her here, it won't matter to her what you have to say. She'll come and she'll stay until you're done. She's been through a war. I doubt there's anything you could tell me that she hasn't seen in person."

Boruto looked as if he were struggling mightly with himself, torn between being tough, not wanting to poison his mother's ears, but at the same time desperately craving the comfort that she could give, though it would mean exposing his weakness to her.

Then Naruto was carefully rubbing his son's back, and Boruto broke, burying his face in his father's chest and sobbing like a child half his age. Naruto wrapped an arm around him and gestured to the door. Hinata joined them a second later, wrapping her arms around them both until Boruto had calmed down.

"I'm okay," Boruto muttered, wiping his nose on his arm. He pushed his parents away, but gently enough where they knew he didn't want either one leaving the room.

"We know that Karin went after you," Naruto said. "But we had searched that area already, and-"

"They were moving me," Boruto interrupted. "I think, when they had me locked up, they were suppressing my chakra so that it couldn't be detected. But when they moved me, I was actually outside for a bit. That's how Karin found me. I wasn't underground anymore, and she could tell."

"And then?"

Boruto hesitated. "She ripped them apart, tou-chan. Just... chains and body parts flying in all directions. I never saw her like that, not even in training. She was... frenzied. Like getting me back was the only thing in the world that mattered to her." He paused, shook his head slightly. "I-I didn't know she cared that much. And she said something weird."

"What?" Hinata asked.

"I thought she would want me to run. These guys were weak, but there were tons of them. If we stayed, they would get us eventually. But she told me not to leave her side. Why would she do that?"

"Think about how Karin heals, son," Naruto suggested.

"You have to bite her."

"And you can't do that if you aren't near her. She wanted to be sure that she could save you."

Boruto grimaced. "I couldn't fight. My chakra wouldn't work. I could only sit there and watch her wail on those guys. But I could tell that Karin was getting tired. And they just kept coming. So she grabbed me and ran. And she kept telling me to bite her whenever she stopped running. So I did. I was able to run on my own after a while. We kept moving unless one of us needed to rest. And when we reached the village gates, I thought everything was fine. But Karin... she collapsed right there, just fell flat on her face. I couldn't wake her up." He paused and bit his lip. "I didn't know she had nothing left to give. She acted like she was fine before that. Kept saying she was going to beat me bloody for getting myself kidnapped and worrying everybody."

"She didn't want to worry you," Naruto explained. "She wanted you focused on getting home."

"Don't tell Sarada," Boruto said abruptly, his eyes large with worry. "She'll hate me!"

The door slammed open, and Sarada stomped into the room, angry tears in her eyes. Boruto flinched as she got right in his face, but the hit that he was expecting never came. Instead, she hugged him fiercely for a few seconds, then suddenly shoved him away.

"I _don't_ hate you," Sarada snapped. "But I'm only saying this once, Boruto. No more being an idiot. You need to step up right now. Be worthy of Karin's sacrifice. I'll never forgive you if you aren't."

* * *

"Can't _believe_ those idiots are late," Sakura grumbled, fussing with Sarada's robes.

Sarada laughed. "Mama, it's fine, really. I know exactly where the boys are. They'll be here."

"But it's your big day!" Sakura insisted. "My baby is going to be named Hokage, and the least they could do is be here on time!"

Sarada opened her mouth, hesitated, and then sighed. "They're visiting Karin's grave, Mama. They can take all the time they need."

Sakura froze, a small frown appearing on her face. "O-Oh. I'm sorry, Sarada."

"It's fine. Our weekly ritual, you know? I went earlier this week, without them, because I knew I'd be busy today."

"I wasn't thinking," Sakura babbled. "I should have-"

Sarada leaned forward and tenderly kissed her mother's forehead. "It's fine, Mama. I'm not mad."

Sakura smiled gratefully. "You've grown up so much."

"You just called me your baby a minute ago, though."

"I was really worried, back then. I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to get past it. It was such an awful thing to happen, and when you kids were so young still."

"It wasn't as bad as you're making it sound," Sarada disagreed, keeping her eyes trained on the Hokage hat on the nearby desk. "Boruto swears the only thing they really did is run tests on him. Tests they run in nearly any decent hospital. We got him back before they could do anything else." She paused, then continued. "That was my test, and I beat the system. I got my friend back and still reached my dream. I didn't have to sacrifice him."

Sakura stared at her for a long moment. "Sarada," she said softly, "don't you remember?"

"Remember what, Mama?" Sarada asked. But even as the words left her lips, she did remember.

* * *

"Please, Karin!" Sarada sobbed, clinging to the woman's neck. "Please go and find him! Promise me you will! Promise me you won't let anyone stop you!"

Karin stared into Sarada's eyes. "I can do that," she said softly. "But I need you to do something for me, first. To make sure that I succeed." She leaned forward and whispered in Sarada's ear.

Sarada's sobs cut off abruptly. She drew back slowly and stared at Karin, who nodded firmly, looking determined. "Are you sure, Karin?"

"Do it."

Sakura entered the room a moment later, just in time to see Karin raise her head, the Sharingan reflected in her eyes.

"Sarada, don't!" Sakura cried, but Karin had already charged from the room, shoving Sakura aside in her haste.

"I-It's okay, Mama," Sarada whispered, smiling weakly as tears streamed from her eyes. "Karin won't fail. She'd never let me down." And then, in an even softer whisper: "She _can't_. She has no choice, now."

* * *

"We'll be late for Sarada's ceremony, Boruto," Mitsuki said.

"Right behind you," Boruto replied, carefully adjusting the flowers he'd left in front of the grave. He stared at the tombstone for a few seconds, then gently slid his fingers along the side. "Why?" he muttered under his breath. "Why'd you throw your life away for me? I still don't get it..."

* * *

"Boruto wasn't your sacrifice, Sarada," Sakura murmured, shaking her head. "Karin was."

"I... no," Sarada breathed. "I wouldn't have... I could never-"

"You didn't weigh a friend's life against the village. "You weighed it against another friend's."

"NO!"

"But you did," Sakura said, her voice becoming colder. "And you have to."

Sarada watched, stunned, as her mother's form melted away to reveal...

"Papa?"

"Those are the kind of choices that the Hokage has to make every day, Sarada," Sasuke said. "The kind of choices that you'll be inviting, even seeking, if you truly want to wear that hat." He crossed the room, picked up the hat, and stared at it. "So do you? Do really want to wear it? Are you prepared for the costs? The sacrifices? Because I'll tell you something, Sarada, something I've never told anyone else. I could never be Hokage. Not now. Because if I had to save the village or my family? The village would burn, and I wouldn't even look back once."

* * *

"That wasn't so bad, brat," Karin panted, a twisted grin on her face. "You might just make chunin in another decade or so."

"Aw, shut up!" Boruto snapped, too exhausted to even raise his head from the ground to glare at her. "I'll beat you next time, just you wait!"

"Sure, sure. And maybe-" Karin stopped abruptly, turning her head to the left.

A moment later, Sarada walked onto the training field. She didn't say anything. She just stared at them.

"Sarada-chan?" Karin asked.

Sarada didn't say anything.

Boruto turned his head and stared. Then he frowned.

"Sarada-chan?" Karin repeated, starting to get up. "What's wrong? Are you-?"

"Leave her alone," Boruto said abruptly. He recognized the signs of post-Sasuke genjutsu depression. "She just needs to think."

Karin glanced at him, but stared unhappily at Sarada. She did not like the look in Sarada's eyes. Almost as if she weren't seeing them as people. Almost as if she were looking through them.

Weighing them.

 **The End.**

* * *

 **Endnotes:**

I do apologize for the delay. This chapter was quite longer than the others, and there was a lot to include, research, rewrite, and all. I am sure there are some who will absolutely hate this chapter. And that's okay. There are some who absolutely hate the Boruto anime. And that's okay. I don't hate the anime, but I don't deny that it leaves much to be desired. And I will not deny that my favorite episodes tend to not feature Boruto at all. And that's okay, too. But I would ultimately like to draw everyone's attention to the category I placed this story in: Tragedy. I don't usually do that, but when I do, there's a reason for it.

I like to think that the Ninja Tool Research Facility eventually became the Scientific Ninja Weapons Team. It seems unlikely that the two wouldn't be closely related. Or that they would exist independently of each other, considering they both do weapons research.

This chapter assumes a lot about Kara, much of what I suspect isn't even close to being accurate. And that's okay, because I don't claim to be able to read the minds of the people behind Boruto. If I could, I'd know why they made him so unappealing (at least, to me), and the knowledge would comfort me, somewhat.

If it wasn't clear, Rasengan Hell is a genjutsu, used to distract an enemy while Sarada gets behind them, generally with a real Fire Release: Rasengan.

Yes, I know that Storm Release is composed of lightning and water nature, not lightning and fire. As far as I know, there is no name for the combination of fire and lightning. Unless it's one of the named ones whose makeup hasn't been clarified. Which is why I named the jutsu in question Firestorm Rasengan, as opposed to Storm Release: Rasengan, which would look and function very differently, I imagine.

Technically, some of what I describe Prodigal to be capable of could be attributed to him having Dark Release, but I don't really want to say that for certain.

Some might debate my reasoning on why Sasuke can't be Hokage. All I can say is, he chose his family over the village twice. Wouldn't shock me if he did it again. And frankly, if he did it a third time I would consider that character growth. If for no other reason than it would be undeniable proof that he values Sakura. And I'd be willing to accept that the real reason he went Kaguya hunting was to protect his family. They just happened to be living in the village at the time.


End file.
